Spiral Matrix
by Lord of the Saiyans
Summary: A new world is drawn into the Eye of Terror, but when the Chaos force sent to raid it is destroyed, Chaos finds itself up against an enemy it has never seen before. The universe of 40K will never be the same!
1. The Raid

" Attack! Blood for the Blood God!" Bellowed Kars as he moved through the crowd, slicing with his roaring chainsword, above him the Chaos Titan bellowed and fought, crushing the feeble machines of these primitives.

Typical. Mused the Khorn-Worshipper Kars. A new world is finally drawn into the eye of terror and it's no sport at all! They had all had such high hopes for this one. It seemed somehow they had struggled to create an alternative Terra. The fools! Thought Kars as he murdered them, their primitive weapons bouncing harmlessly off his Power-Armour. The fools didn't know the true meaning of the Blood God!

Well, he would show them! The red liquid spilled again as he beheaded a man reaching for his gun. _Pathetic, they cannot even wage war! Where are the tanks, the air-craft? They clearly have the technological level required for such devices yet they show no sign of them! _ So, they thought with guns, hastily constructed barricades, all around them their city burned, blood flowed like a river and yet.... and yet they fought on.

Kars had to admit, as he cleaved through the skull of yet another, that such determination was a thing to be admired, even as he slaughtered them for their weakness. Behind him, along side the titan there strode a Bloodthirster, a former Space Marine ascended to the rank of Daemon Prince. Kars was honoured to fight alongside him and even hoped one day to fight him -- win or loss, it would be an honour. His bolter barked and the last organised resistance fell, the people ran screaming, scrambling over their own dead to escape the barbarous monsters that had descended from the stars to slaughter them. While the majority of his men chased them down and added their blood to the tally, Kars led the core of his force farther in, the massive titan bellowed and struck out at buildings; sending rubble cascading down to the ground and ending more fleeing lives. Vermin. Spat Kars. In a strange way, he could respect those who stood and fought, even though they knew they would die. That was well and good, that was even a form of Worship for Khorn! But the runners, they were pathetic wretches, worthy not of the Blood Gods attention, though they would have it anyway.

A massive screen had been built into one of the taller buildings and it was now displaying the calm face of a man wearing a suit. He might have been talking about the weather, for all the change it made to his tone and face: " All citizens are ordered to move to the centre of the city. Once there, you will be evacuated while this new threat is safely contained. Do not panic, do not attempt to fight off the invader-" The screen flashed and went black as it's shattered glass fell to the floor.

Kars lowered his bolter. " Cowards. Just when they were starting to earn my respect. Follow me to the city-centre! We'll slaughter them as they run."

There were screams as the Khornite Space Marines penetrated deeper and deeper into the city, like a sword lancing into an unprotected body, they could not be stopped. Barricades were burned or destroyed, the Titan could still be seen in the background, tearing apart buildings and the Bloodthirster had followed them at it's own pace, slaughtering any who got past them.

Soon, they had arrived. Before them, the crowd mulled uncertainly, the transports were still being loaded they appeared to be primitive space-ships. _Fools. _ Thought Kars with a snort, _You are in the blessed space of the Warp now, there is no escape1!_

There was screams as they saw the blood-soaked Chaos Marines but they were quickly downed out by the bark of Bolters, people to the back of the crowd fell, the rest, as panicked mammals are prone to do the universe over, stampeded. Kars laughed out loud, his chainsword roaring as he closed on the crowd.

" Blood for the Blood God!" He bellowed, his mighty voice carried high by the winds of war, the burning was back in his blood, he _needed _to take skulls, needed to fight. Luckily, he would have his skulls this day!

He sized up his first kill, a young girl left behind by the massed humanity, crying as the giant charged her. A single strike would end her life -- no need to inflict pain, that was the domain of a different God than Khorn. If she saw the massive man baring down upon her, she gave no indication only continued to sob. His chainblade sliced for her throat, ready to draw blood for it's master! There was a flash of red and for a second, Kars grinned, then he realized, it was not blood, but cloth?!

A blonde-haired man had pushed the crying girl out of the way, barely avoiding the descending blade himself, he was sprawled on the ground, a single blade clutched in his hands. Rage at the loss of his kill was rapidly overtaken by joy due to finding a foe capable of fighting back.

" Blood for the Blood God!" He bellowed, slicing downwards, the man was strong, noted Kars, he held his own even when his blade snapped he managed to dodge the strike, sweat dotted his face now, his muscles were good but Kars' were so much better. The man had pointed teeth, Kars saw. Perhaps some kind of tribal mark? He knew that this world was primitive but not that primitive. With a mental shrug he turned back to the job at hand -- killing. The crowd had moved quite a distance now, his men was chasing them, diving into the sea of panicked bodies, their progress marked by bloody waves in the human tide.

The blonde man must have known that death was looking him in the face, he did not run or hide, he fought! With a roar and a surge of muscles, he hurled himself at the space marine. Against a human, it might have worked, but the reaction times of even a none-corrupted Astartes are so much faster than the norm, and Kars had served Khorn for many years. He was far above the average Space Marine. With a simple back-hand he sent the man flying, tumbling helplessly as he struck the ground hard enough to break bones. The man paled and tried to rise, but Kars towered above him, blade raised for the final cut.

" Skulls for the Skull Throne!"

Then, there was a blast of light, intense, all consuming light tinged with green. Kars cried out and staggered, his advanced senses feeling the brunt of the new assault. Then, the very ground shook and Kars -- acting on instinct -- launched himself to the right, it was just in time too. A massive armoured foot stomped down upon where he had been standing. Vision clearing, the Chaos Marine looked up at his attacker and was truly impressed for the first time. Maybe, these primitives _did _have some idea of war after all!

It looked to all the world like an infant titan. It was small, little more than a face with red eyes and legs, a massive cannon protruded from it's head, it turned and fired the head-cannon, striking the Daemon Prince on the arm, there was an explosion and blood soaked the ground, but his wounds quickly healed and with a roar, he charged the thing.

Killing forgotten briefly, Kars watched the fight, the Bloodthirster was strong and fast, but the miniature Titan had fire-power, it's cannon roared again and again, each time it tore a bloody wound in the chest of the Daemon Prince. He didn't stop, Khorn cares not from where the blood flows. Kars smirked, knowing that this promised to be a most satisfying fight for his God. The blue titan was well-made, he could see, but it was using primitive and out-dated technology, once he closed to range, the Bloodthirster would destroy it with one swing of it's axe.

Then, in a very true way, Hell came to this world. The Chaos Titan that had been rampaging throughout the city died in a fiery explosion, the mechanical screams of rage could be heard and all the marines saw what came next. It had turned it's back to them, fighting something else. but now they could see that it had been pierced many times by small sharp instruments, they had turn through it's heavy armour, coming right through it and out the other side. It still twitched, like a dying insect, the Daemon-fused machine spirit still lusting for battle. Then, a fiery bloom overcame the titan and it died. The roar of the explosion spread out, the shock-wave bulldozing several buildings. It took all of Kars' incredible strength just to stay standing, the crowd were by now much farther away but that was no protection, they were hurled like leaves before a storm.

He could hear the thumps and bangs as the parts of the titan fell, smoke still obscured the area of it's death but Kars could pick out an outline, as tall as the titan itself, the monstrous mecha was clearly a product of the primitives. Kars likened it to the small one that had been fighting the Bloodthirster. Then, it strode out of the smoke, it's eyes blazing. It looked to all the world like a red titan, it's chest contained a second face sunglasses glinted in the light, it wore some kind of crown-like half-moon symbol on it's head. Where the drills had come from, he had no idea as they seemed to have vanished.

Sensing a worthy opponent at last, the Daemon Prince bellowed and charged, axe swinging, the mecha met him, running, it's foot-steps seemed like earthquakes as Kars watched the two giants approach. The Daemon slashed with it's axe but the mecha turned it aside with a block, Kars was somewhat surprised it had the strength. The Daemon roared: " Blood for the Blood God!" It's axe found purchases then, in the neck of the mecha. The machine seemed to stagger for a second, livened by this show of weakness, the Daemon Prince wrenched his axe upwards, ready to behead his enemy, then, there was a flash of light and Kars felt..,strange. Kars was no stranger to the Warp and anything that can make a Chaos Marine feel strange is certainly a thing to be avoided. Then, the mecha seemed to grin to itself and a thousand drills lanced from it's body like snakes, somehow flexible, they turned and weaved around the giant form, digging deeply into flesh, the Bloodthirster roared in pain -- it had never been entrapped in such a way!

The mecha raised a hand, three drills extended from it like claws, " You are pathetic." Said a voice coming from the robot. Somehow, Kars knew it was from the pilot. " Attacking a defenceless city like this."

Kars found himself backing away, he was not a berserker like some of his brothers, he knew an impossible challenge when he saw one -- this was really impossible! Without a Daemon or the support of a Chaos God how could this titan look-alike defy logic so easily?

" Wh-what is that thing?" He wondered aloud, Somehow, the pilot heard him and turned, the sun-glasses on it's chest gleamed, " who am I? Who am I? Who the hell do you think I am?!"

Then, there was a faint whisper from the crowd behind him, Kars heard it -- barely -- and figured it was the name of their defender. He spoke it then, the words felt right somehow, as if they could not possibly be wrong.

" Gurren Lagann."


	2. Mind Games

Rossiu Adai sat in the half-darkness of his office, the only light that cast by the computer before him. Words scrawled down the screen automatically and he had to struggle to keep up with them. It was his only hope that some how, some way, these words might have the solution to their current problem, that hidden amongst the seemingly infinite sea of letters, numbers, words and data, there might be that single piece of information. That holy grail that would make all this make sense. So far, he had not been lucky. Oh there was plenty of information available about the anomaly, as it had come to be termed, but none of it was _useful. _ Rossiu could have come up with it on his own, never mind with the help of the top scientists available to him. Once he had gotten rid of all the fancy words that the scientists liked to dress such things up with, their research boiled down to: we don't know what it is, we don't know what it's doing; we don't know how to get rid of it. He sighed quietly to himself. Of course, out in public, he could never allow himself even such a simple luxury. The public must always see him as head of the government. Strong, smart, infallible. Privately, Rossiu despaired of ever finding a way out of this strange anomaly that was looking more and more like a trap. Unbidden, the memories rose again to torment him. The attack, the blood-baths, those monsters had cut down civilians, innocent men and women! It was like being back in his village all over again, no it was worse, because this time there was no elder standing between them and the outside world. This time, he was the elder. And he had no clue what was going on.

Still, it could certainly have been worse. According to all the many and varied reading that they were taking, if those evacuation ships had managed to get out of the upper atmosphere it would have been...bad. They were trapped, trapped and they hadn't even known it! Rossiu was not a man given to great outbursts of anger, he had a somewhat cold temperament, but now he was really starting to feel the fires. What could have happened if no help had arrived? The officials, the army, the citizens, were all fooling themselves. Rossiu had seen the techs' report on the technology left behind by the invaders; it was far in advance of anything they had ever seen. He really doubted that they could have won on their own. But they hadn't been on their own, had they? Whispered the tiny voice which spoke with the tone he had used in his youth. No, reinforcements had arrived in time to help drive the enemy back. Gurren Lagann, the name was a legend nowadays! More a myth than reality, more fiction than fact. Truth be told, Rossiu had never expected to see it again. But they had come, no, _he _had come: Simon. Simon the Digger. Even now, the memory of that day long ago when Simon first assumed that title brought a faint smile to Rossiu's lips. Simon! The Spiral Warrior, as he had been nicknamed by the populace at large, Simon the saviour, who had taken down the Anti-Spirals, Simon the leader, who had defeated Lord Genome.

Rossiu gave another near-silent sigh, there was no explanation here, no clue as to what the anomaly was or what it did, or, he added to himself, of what was stopping it from doing the same to Earth. He shut down the computer, snapping closed the lid with more force than need be. He had found his computing needs sorely lacking since the destruction of the biological computer system formally known as Lord Genome. All efforts to reconstruct it from DNA stores had been fruitless. No one else had a strong enough Spiral level. His eyes turned to the large window built into the side of the room. It was night, but instead of the peaceful sky full of stars that he was used to, there was only the void. A dark sky lit up by a few strange, almost sorcerous light. Ever shifting and changing, it hurt the eyes and the mind to look up for too long. There would have been riots in the street, if the attack had not happened when it did.

Rossiu was in charge of the preservation of the humans under his care, he would not, could not, continue this way; without so much as a clue. If he knew what the enemy was, he could fight it, he could beat it. As things were going now, he was reminded of the Anti-Spirals and those were not memories he treasured.

_________________________________________________________________________

The _Black-Heart _had once been the pride of the defensive fleet of the Imperial planet Dormos. For five hundred years, it had served faithfully, doing the Emperor's work. Five years ago, it had been boarded by the renegade Chapter, the Bloody Fists. The Chapter Master, Irinian took an instant liking to the blunt, no-nonsense design of the capital ship. He had it consecrated in the blood of it's former crew. Even now, so much later, their agonized screams echoed throughout the Daemon-hunted corridors. The Aquaila marking had been kept, smeared with the blood of the faithful as a final insult.

Currently, the _Black-Heart _was the home of operations for the Bloody Fists, their Chapter having expanded somewhat in the years since their break from the Imperium. It was very rare that the entire Chapter fought as one, their style of battle being better suited to rapid raids and assaults to honour their God rather than a prolonged conflict. They were going to fight now.

Chapter Master Irinian towered above his warriors like a God amongst men. His red armour glistened wetly, his bared face was pale, his hair shaven. Bloody skulls hung from his waist, as well as from the back of his neck. Some of them were still screaming weakly.

" What happened to our strike-force?" He demanded angrily, for the second time. His tone was one of unquestioning power, brutality and totally without mercy.

The cultists that was cowering at his feet knew that he was going to die, he had known it for weeks. Ever since the strike-force was obliterated and he had survived, he had known since then that his days were numbered. He had once been a worker on an Imperial Hiveworld, his muscles bulged but he was not fool enough to think that he could take on a Space Marine.

" I know no more!" Cried the cultist, fear tingeing his voice, he started to rise but a bear-like blow smashed him back to the ground in flash of pain. He would have screamed, but it was too quick for that, nevertheless, it was enough to show him true agony. There was an audible crack and he had to fight back panic as he realized he couldn't move his legs.

" Give me a single good reason." Said the Chapter Master venomously, " Why I should not feed your soul to the Daemons?"

The Cultist did no more than whimper, the throbbing in his is lower body enough to snatch away any noise that was not a scream. He knew, that if he did scream, he would quickly be despatched. He gurgled as best he could, fighting past the spit and blood, trying desperately to form the words.

Irinian cursed, his smouldering eyes locked onto the fearful orbs of the cultist. He already knew what happened, had seen it himself via the Warp. An entire Khornite raiding force obliterated by a single primitive planet. That kind of thing Just. Would. Not. Do. The Bloody Fists were descended from the Crimson Fists -- as the similar names would suggest, and though they now fought for the other side, the Fists still had that legendary stubbornness that so characterized their parent Chapter. This insult could not be allowed to stand. Chapter honour was at stake. Ironically, while they fought against the Imperium, the Bloody Fists had held on grimly to their Chapter organisation. They still fought as one, they were still brothers. More than could be said for most renegade Chapters, who slowly disintegrate into simple bands of roving warriors. An insult to one was an insult to all. The disgrace of one was the disgrace of all. The Chapter had been disgraced and now, the Chapter must be avenged.

Irinian deleted the cowering cultist from his world, there would be time to deal him the painful death he deserved soon enough. For now, the matter of that world that had beat them back, that world which was so much like Terra.

They were making best possible speed towards it, but the Warp was as fickle as the Gods that influenced it and trying to head in a single specific direction was near impossible, even with the blood rituals he was having his crew perform to calm it. They could be there in a week, a month, or five hundred years. Allowing their vengeance to wait was simply unforgivable. Yet, there was a way to strike now, there always was, if one was willing to look hard enough. He turned to the man beside him, the former Chief-Librarian now devoted follower of the Lord of Change. His Psyker abilities had increased massively, the occasional mutation was a small price to pay for that kind of fire-power. Spines ran the length of the man's spine, poking out through his armour. The librarian had the power to read minds, so it was little surprise that he knew the order before it was spoken.

" I can crush their minds with ease, lord. If you order it, I shall reach out from here and take bloody vengeance for our fallen brothers. Distance is meaningless in the sacred Warp, and with the right precautions, I shall have little trouble from wandering Daemons."

Irinian nodded slightly. _ It will have to do for now. We shall butcher the planet proper when we arrive, but there is no harm in causing weakness in our enemies before hand. We shall kill critical personal, their leaders and heroes, then when we drop from the sky, we will be able to slaughter them all. _

" Yes." He said aloud, " A good idea. Do it, Librarian. I charge you to seek vengeance for our lost brothers, do your worst, boil their blood and crush their minds, snap their bones slowly as they are immolated by invisible flames. Put the fear of the Gods into the survivors, and above all, make their deaths painful. Let them know, that their doom comes for them. Start with the pilot, or pilots, of that titan look-alike. Without it, they attack would have gone off without a hitch."

The Librarian -- Demos -- nodded, his face grim. He knew the burden that this order was putting on him. It would be down to him to claim the Chapter's blood payment. A most important duty, and one that that would book no forgiveness if he failed. For the sake of the Chapter's honour then, he would not allow himself to fail.

______________________________________________________________________

Viril moved his arm again, the faint echo of pain still with him in the bruised bone. He was lucky enough, he supposed, to have healed as quickly as he had. That thing had been able to casually break his arm with a single blow. Even now, the image of the armoured warrior was burned into his mind, sometimes he could see it when he closed his eyes. That had been a very messy break in the bone itself -- in fact ''break'' was not the word he would personally have chosen, '' shattered into a million pieces'' was closer to the truth, in the beastman's mind anyway.

In anyone else, this would have been a severe and possibly life-threatening wound. Requiring instant medical attention, surgery and many months of painful recovery with the prospect of never having full use of the wounded limb again. Happily, Viril was not anyone else. The beastman was unique, even amongst his own kind. Thanks to the modifications made by Lord Genome shortly before his first death, Viril's bone had pulled itself back together in hours. Not that it was any less painful than the real thing would have been, but at least this way it took less time to heal. Unfortunately, once the bone was set the rate of healing decreased. Viril had long ago discovered that his gift was reactive, the worse the damage the quicker it would heal. A small cut or wound would heal at the rate normal for such a thing, a broken arm would set quickly, but the bruising, the severed tendons, the pain, these things would take longer to vanish. With life-threatening wounds, such as being impaled ( He supposed, as it had never happened) he would heal nearly instantly. Lord Genome had done his work well, and Viril had little doubt that he would not die due to age. It was not impossible, however, that a massive enough injury could take him down for good. Therefore, when he had thrown himself into combat against that armoured giant, he fully expected to die.

Viril harboured no illusions about himself -- he was a brilliant swordsmen, his hand-eye coordination was above the human norm, his muscles could provide more power than the human verity, and years of practice and real-life duels had honed his skills. Against any man, he would give himself good odds. Only one man had ever stood against him blade to blade, and that man was dead. Though despite his spirited attempts, not by Viril's hands. And now, now, Viril was casually sitting across from the one who was in every way but blood that man's successor. It was a strange world they lived in, reflected Viril for a split second, one where former enemies could become the best of allies, and just maybe, they could become friends.

" Simon." He said by way of greeting. The youth -- no the man -- had changed greatly since he last laid eyes on him, but that was only to be expected. It had been over a year ago they last met, just after his and Nia's wedding in fact. After that. Viril had been sent off-planet to serve as a diplomat and Simon, well no one really knew what had happened to Simon. One day he had simply vanished. His home was totally intact and there was no sign of a struggle, only a few things had been packed and taken away, but one of those included the Core-Drill, without which, Gurren Lagann was simply an impressive looking statue. There had been two main theories about the absence of Simon. One ran that he had been '''vanished'' ether by the government or by people unknown. This was widely regarded as myth and anyone who believed it was likely to be labelled a conspiracy nut. In particular, how could someone overcome Simon who was no mean warrior himself, without causing any signs of a fight? The second theory, and in Viril's opinion, the much more logical of the two, said that Simon had simply grown tired of the limelight and of the constant hassle of day to day living and left. Where he went was of course, unknown.

" Your performance was well-timed as always, Simon." Said Viril, " I don't think the city's defenders could have repelled the raiders. Gurran Lagann saves the day again." He finished with a toothy grin.

" No." Said Simon. His face was still young, Viril noted, but he seemed somehow lessened without his trade-mark sunglasses. He was clothed in a dark jump-suit, but there was one thing at least that would fit with the image he had built up over the years. the Core-Drill hunt around his neck.

" No?" Repeated Viril, mind going through the countless scenarios in which his words could have been wrong. " Is that no ''you didn't arrive in time'' or no '' day not saved''?"

" This isn't over yet." Said Simon with total certainty. " I don't know how I know I _feel _it, it's like... it's like being back in the Spiral Death Field." He said, referring to Kittan final resting place. The brave warrior had sacrificed himself to destroy the Spiral Death Machine -- which was generating a field of could best be described as '' Anti Spiral energy'' thickening space around itself and making a kind of sea in space. Viril could remember with crystal clarity how Gurren Lagann had become entrapped there, it had seemed that they would all die then, save for Kittan's sacrifice.

Viril shivered, it had been one of the weapons of the Anti-Spirals, they had come very close to wiping humanity out. If it had not been for Simon then they would have succeeded.

" Only not the same." Said Simon. " Spiral Power is something that most living things have, it's caused by change, anything that strives to better itself and to reproduce has it in some amount. But up there." He pointed to the sky " It's twisted, all around us. The whole planet constantly exudes faint Spiral Energy from everyone on it, but the space around is is Warped, it's devouring it, twisting it and turning it back on itself."

" I see." Said Viril, not seeing.

" No you don't." Said Simon, " I can't normally feel Spiral Energy -- it doesn't work like that unless there's massive amounts of it, but what I feel all around us isn't Spiral, it's more like the Anti-Spirals but twisted, the Anti-Spirals did what they did because they were trying to protect the universe but this place... this place feels like it would do it just for the fun."

" You expect more attacks?" Asked Viril.

" Yes." Said Simon simply. " I've already spoken to Rossiu about it, he says that my gut feeling isn't enough to alarm the populace any more than it already is. But I know we're going to be attacked again."

" That sounds like Rossiu." _Not that I'd know. _ Viril had never really gotten to know Rossiu something to do with the man having him thrown into prison and then leaving him to die when the moon was going to crash into the Earth. Still, from what he did know, Rossiu would do the right thing for his population.

" We're not as prepared as we were against the Anti-Spirals. Gurren Lagann isn't as strong with only one pilot."

Viril couldn't help but look into Simon's eyes, " You want me to to co-pilot?"

Simon nodded, a smirk on his lips, " You did great when we fought the Anti-Spirals. I don't know anyone else I'd rather fight with."

" I can't produce Spiral Power." Pointed out Viril grimly. It was true, only beings capable of reproductions and evolution could produce that, and as a beastman, Viril could do nether. It was something he regretted. A long-living dream of his being to have a family. Not that it could ever happen.

" But your presence helps." Said Simon, " I remember that last fight with the Anti-Spirals, you helped us win just like everyone else! Viril, no other person I know has the skills to help here."

" I must be crazy." Said Viril with a grin, " But I'll do it."

He still remembered what it was like to pilot Gurren Lagann, the sheer energy contained within that mechanical form. Gurren Lagann was a thing alive, it had a pulsing life of it's own, when one was in it, and fighting, you could almost feel the emotions of the mech itself, almost believe that it was alive, that it had a soul.

" I'll do it." He repeated again.

__________________________________________________________________________

It was later that night. Or rather, late enough now to warrant the name ''morning''. Nevertheless, all across the city, key people slept.

Rossiu slept lightly, constantly turning and mumbling, even in sleep he tried to figure out the problems facing him. He had no more luck than he had while awake. Across the city, there was a cheap hotel. The kind used for less than savoury activities. In the room numbered 301 there lay another hero of the Spiral Wars. Yoko Littner also slept lightly, but where Rossiu was troubled, she was at peace for now. She had talked with Simon and knew there would be more attacks but she had also been raised a soldier, she could sleep anywhere. Because she had been raised in such a way, her unique weapon was sitting beside her bed, in easy reach if she should need it. Across the hall, in room 310, Simon. Hero of the Spiral Wars. Core-Drill as always around his neck. He slept deeply. Three people, three souls, three targets.

Demos crept through mind after mind, trailing the surface brain for any hints or clues then leaving without causing any damage. It had taken the deaths of three slaves to allow him to get here, but he had all the time in the world now that he was. He was in astral form, but it would be enough. He could feel the power of the Warp flowing through him. Whatever barrier kept the tides of the Immiterium at bay, it didn't hold him. It had taken fifteen minutes to locate the pilot of the titan. It was a simple thing to do. Mind-surfing. He would select a random mind and probe it, from there, he would follow up any links or clues it provided and do the same to the people that led him to. Now, he found himself standing over the pilot. The one called Simon.

Simon didn't know he was here and wouldn't have seen him even if he was awake. He didn't look like a real threat, Demos had expected some proto-Mechanicus, however this would certainly make things easier. Summoning his powers, Demos flowed into the mind of the pilot.

Surface thoughts bombarded him, simple things since the mind was asleep, urges, desires, dreams and thoughts mixed and flowed together. From here, it would be simple enough to cause a death-wound. A simple exercise of psychic will would be enough to stop the heart or hold the lungs. But his orders specified suffering. Besides, there was a reason Demos served the Lord of Change over any other God. There burned in Demos a raging desire to _know. _ To understand the inner workings of the universe and all that dwelt within it. It was what had caused him to fall, and by extension, his Chapter. He had to know, before this one died, had to know just what this titan was, how it had come to be, and how it defied reality so easily.

Demos concentrated.

____________________________________________________

Demos cast a glance at his new surroundings. He was in a cave of some kind, cold stone was everywhere and the temperature was freezing. He moved his now solid body and started walking. He was now deep inside the mind of the pilot, this was how Simon's mind arranged itself, a cave -- no, a mine of some kind. What kind of man had a mine in his head? Most minds would have formed cities, or forests, it varied slightly but this... this was new.

There was the sound of digging up ahead, without farther thought the Space Marine stalked towards it. As he walked, the sound got louder and clearer, it was some kind of drill. Demos past raw veins of mineral in the walls, doubtless they represented some important memory for this Simon, but he ignored them. He would know all he needed to soon enough.

The tunnel slowly got deeper, the walls and roof closer in so that Demos had to hunch over as he moved, but all the while he could feel his objective getting closer. Abruptly, he rounded a corner and saw it! He smirked, the tunnel came to a sudden end, and standing there, drilling was the figure of a small boy.

The boy turned and looked at the approaching monster. He was young, a pair of goggles covered his eyes and a miniature drill dangled from his throat. A blue coat covered most of his form. Demos grinned making for him when he spoke: " W-who are you?"

Demos laughed, " I'll enjoy consuming you." He said, " All your knowledge will be mine, all your thoughts and secrets! All your innermost feelings and memories!"

The figure represented the subconscious of the pilot -- Simon -- and if he lost it, that would mean a slow death as he was gradual driven insane. Unable to imagine or to really think. It was a terrible death, and it would also bestow upon Demos all of the child's knowledge which in this case, was all of Simon's knowledge. He could hardly wait to consume it all, to know that little bit more.

He took another step towards Simon, and raised his hand, summoning the powers of the Warp. " I would say this will be quick and painless, but that would be a lie."

Abruptly, the power surged forth from his fingertips, a dark torrent of fire roaring as it sought out it's target, Simon had no time to run as it smashed into him. Demos laughed again, the sound echoing and re-echoing throughout the tunnel. Suddenly, there was a flash of pain and the Space Marine was thrown bodily backwards at high speed, cracking into the tunnel wall with a grunt of pain. Dazed, he looked up and beheld a wall of stone, upon it there was carved the image of a ball of flames, wearing sunglasses. A nonsensical image at best, he groaned and stood up. This Simon clearly had better mental defences than he had thought. No matter, it just meant it would take him longer to break through them. He touched the barrier and it exploded inwards, obliterated by his own mind. Simon was gone. No matter, he had all the time in the world. He could track this kid all day if he had to.

The Chaos Space Marine stepped into the infinite darkness of the mind, he did not see that another figure had formed out of that self-same darkness, a figure wearing a red cloak and a pair of sunglasses.

______________________________________________________

AN: Yeah, I finally got around to doing it, I apologise if it lacks the same amount of AWESOME as the first chapter, think of this one as a set-up chapter, with the awesome coming in later. Anyhow, it's late at night so forgive any spelling errors or miss-characterizations.


	3. Spiral Matrix

Demos stalked through empty corridors and mazes of stone. The wet rock constantly dripping upon his power-armour. It was dark and damp, but to any Adepus Astartes, that would not matter. Demos was no exception there at least. His keen eyes pierced the darkness easily, not caring that it was darkness of the mind, not of the world. For such a massive person, he walked softly, nary a sound escaping. If this were any mortal arena then that would easily be enough for him to catch his prey. However this was no mortal arena. This was the mind of Simon, and Demos had a mission to finish.

Apparently, Simon's mind was a tougher nut to crack than he had expected. It was layered, like a net-work of tunnels. An endless maze for intruders to wander. Against most it would have been a perfect defence, for there was no signs at all, no way to tell one tunnel apart from it's brothers. Even to most Psykers, it would be a difficult puzzle. However, Demos had been a high level psyker in his own right even before his turn to Chaos. He had seen Simon's mental form and now he had the taste of it. He had total faith in his ability to track it down. Now and again, a new barrier would spring into being, Simon's mind was constantly evolving and adapting new defences. When this happened, a single mental touch was all that was required to shatter it. That was just another facet of the mystery that was this man's mind. Most minds would not -- could not -- adapt and change so rapidly. It was a theoretical impossibility for a human mind to manufacture new defences as quickly as this one did. If Demos didn't know better, he could have sworn that Simon's mind was constantly evolving from second to second, one thing was sure, however, and that was that a strange power ran through the very essence of this man. Demos had picked it up almost as seen as he arrived, it was a strange energy, not one he had felt before. Certainly not the holy power of the Warp, nor the fanatical power that devotion to the Corpse-Emperor sometimes inspired. It was fluid, always changing but somehow, it's core was ever the same. Demos couldn't grasp it, couldn't control it, it slipped through his fingers like a living beast. Whenever he felt like he was about to isolate it, to study it and understand it, it vanished from his mental grasp! It was infuriating, especially for a follower of Tzeentch, who prized knowledge above all else.

The quest to understand this new type of power was not the only thing on his mind, as he stalked like an angel of death through the dark corridors of the mind. Something was bothering him, he had first realized what it was ten minutes ago and since then, it had been like a tiny insect biting away at him. It was simple enough, he could easily do something about it but he chose not to. He was here to learn, and this was a brilliant opportunity to do just that. He was being followed, normally, Demos would simply have spun round and delivered a bolter to the face of the shadower however this was in a person's mind, and there were only three possible candidates which could be here with him. It was Simon back, which was stupid, because the boy must have seen how superior Demos was to himself. The second option. Sometimes, a Daemon could enter a mind in the same way he himself had done. When this happened, the Daemon would slowly drive it's victims insane with images, words, thoughts and feelings. Demos was confidant that he would have sensed any Daemon as soon as he formed his own mental projection so that option was also not likely. Lastly, it, and most likely, it was a mental Projection. They weren't unusual in soldiers or people often in combat. The mind was a strange thing and when under stress it would often create an image to protect these ''mental guardsmen'' would often be based upon a human that the person had looked up to and respected. They had no personality or will of their own, but were simply tools of the mind. They were used to root out thoughts and feelings the person felt they shouldn't have, or to keep the primal urges and lusts back. Sometimes they could even take on Daemons, though they inevitably lost, they could delay the outbreak of the Daemon's power.

So, decided the Chaos Marine as he got tired of the game, there really was no downside to unleashing his powers upon the mysterious shadower. If it were a Projection, it would be destroyed, a Daemon would be cast out, and if it were Simon, then he could continue where he left off.

With a sudden burst of speed, the towering Astartes spun around agilely , his left hand extended towards the shadowy figure. He just had time to take in the red cloak, the sun-glasses, the strange resemblance to Simon before the Warp-spawned lightening rushed from his outstretched fingers, crackling and dancing and casting it's chilling half-light, it struck the man full on the chest. Rapidly encircling his body even as it burned though his form -- and if he had one -- his very soul. He didn't scream as the massive force of the blast hurled him bodily against the solid rock behind him. There was a loud _snap_ which told Demos that he had broken the man's back, then he was still. The entire attack from Demos' first movement had taken only a few seconds.

Demos felt no life now, in that broken, burnt husk of a body. It slowly faded out of existence. Demos nodded, he had been right again. Nothing more than a Projection far out of it's depth.

_________________________________________________________________

" Simon! Simon wake up damn you!" Yoko Littner cried as she checked once more for the pulse she desperately hoped had not vanished in the last few seconds. Yes, it was still there, still beating strongly , so why wouldn't he wake up? Yoko's mind threw up hundreds of reasons why Simon might not be responding to her pleas, she didn't like any of them.

This was really, really not good. Cursing to herself, fighting down the fear for her friend, Yoko picked up the nearest phone and moved to dial the hospital she paused then, her fingers floating above the first of the numbers. In the sudden silence, she could hear the rhythmic sound of his deep breathing. For all the world, Simon looked like he was simply asleep. It brought back memories for her, memories of _his death. _ Kamina. The name triggered so many emotions within her. What could have been , what might have been. The soldier in her took over and she forced the memories aside; time enough to reminisce later. Simon;s very life could be in danger here and she would not let him die. A new thought occurrence to her and she typed in a different number from the intended hospital.

Tension mounted as the phone rang, once, just once. Then, straight from the past. She didn't even wait for him to finish his sentence. " Attenborough!"

Of course, the former weapons operator recognised her own voice as well, " Yoko!"

" Listen Attenborough, Simon's not waking up, I don't know what's happened but it can't be good. Have been good, get help over her right now."

" R-Right away miss Yoko!"

Attenborough had always been a character, Yoko thought distractedly as she hung up the phone and headed back to check on Simon who was, thankfully, still breathing. That was good. Attenborough would send the fastest ambulance he could, the government's influence would get Simon the best of everything. Now she only had to wait for them to get here.

Sweat was starting to appear on Simon's forehead and his face was screwed up as if in pain. Something was clearly wrong, and his condition was worsening. Feeling helpless, Yoko could only sit beside the bed and whisper " Come on Simon, don't tell me you fought the Anti-Spirals and Lord Genome just to end up like this? Hang in there... just hang on."

_____________________________________________________

Demos lunged forwards, the long blade of his enemy narrowly missing his massive chest, it appeared as a normal sword but here, in this realm of the mind, it would part his armour as easily as any Necron Gauss weapon. His augmented senses heard the faint ''whoosh'' as the blade missed him, felt the slight air buffeting his form. His return strike crushed the chest of his attacker, spectral blood sprayed from the wound in a great torrent as the second Projection fell to the ground, vanishing just as the first had done.

Demos laughed, the surge of victory he thought long since lost to him flowing through his body. Ah but it had been too long since he had been forced to take on a mind like this! He laughed aloud before continuing onwards. The burning, twisting, power he felt earlier was closer now... it drew him on like a moth to a flame, by now he had forgotten all other missions, all other objectives. His only purpose in life was to discover just what this power was, and how it could be harnessed for his own needs. To this end, he had found himself being drawn lower and lower into the mind, as he went, the defences became much more intricate and harder to overcome. More Projections were created, all in the image of the same man. He killed them, of course, but if he didn't know better he would think that Simon's mind was actively adapting to fight him off. Impossible of course, defences required conscious thought to raise and maintain and Simon was certainly not capable of that at the minute. With a mental shrug, the Chaos Space Marine continued on his way. The power ahead was alluring, impossible to resist, it intoxicated him like alcohol would to a human. He could think only of acquiring it -- but far more importantly, of _understanding _it. He could have followed it with his eyes closed.

He suddenly took of down the tunnel, running faster than any normal man could ever have, the air was charged with something here, he was close, and getting closer.

________________________________________________________________

" -- and as you can see on chart 34G, the magnetic bombardment did little to reveal the constitution of the Anomaly. However we did get some interesting results --"

Rossiu forced himself to take in the scientist's words, rather than letting them wash over him in a sea of jargon. He was in charge and if anyone would understand the nature and purpose of the Anomaly it would be him. The fact that the scientist had apparently spent many years developing the exact tone of voice required to bore the average human being to sleep in a few minutes did not help matters. Still, he felt that there was an upper limit to what he could take during these daily updates.

" This is quite interesting, professor." He interrupted the man in mid-flow, " But are you going to tell me anything I don't already know?"

The man look aghast at the interruption, this being the first time he had been called upon to give the update. " I believe," He began again, " that we have discovered several key features of the Anomaly. "

_Great. _Thought Rossiu as he let the words flow over him, _ they're wasting three hours a day telling me they have no clue what's going on. Well lets see if we can put him to good use._

" What was the status of the orbital infrastructure at the last check?"

The professor paused once more, a part of him wanted to say: _ That's the kind of question you ask a tech, not a high-level scientist like myself. If you want to know that kind of thing, ask them who're trained for it, not those of a higher profession. _ Most of him knew this was a stupid thing to say, he knew that the other was stressed, as he had been spending every waking moment trying to figure this out. Tired, as he had been sleeping only a few minutes before the update was scheduled, and worried, no one knew who the raiders were, or if they would be coming back. Still, he couldn't keep a hint of annoyance from his voice when he answered, " At the last check-in, most of the defence stations were reporting at one-hundred percent operational. The ship-yards is still severally damaged and they expect it will take many months before they are ready to work on anything new."

Rossiu nodded, the news while not the best, was also not the worst. The orbital defence stations had been put into orbit after the Spiral Wars to ensure that Earth was never defenceless. Consisting of a station loaded to the brim with weaponry and armour, each station could take on a small fleet. Of course the fact that there were very few of them, and the planet was a big place to cover often got in the way of their operation running. Still, it was better to have a lesser defence than to have none at all. On the bad side, the single ship-yard they had constructed had been well and truly slagged by the raiders on the way in.

Abruptly, there was a loud ringing that pulled him from his gloomy thoughts. Reaching into his pocket, Rossiu withdrew the small mobile he kept for emergencies. It was work-only, with strict orders not to disturb him for anything less than a real red-alert.

" I'm here." He said, noticing the mortified professor giving him what could only be described as a Look.

Leeron's voice was clear over the phone, but the man quite the usual playful banter he seemed to love so much and cut right to the chase, " Rossiu it's Simon."

An icy pit opened in Rossiu's stomach. What had happened now? He turned his back for one second, and he knew that it would be the Anti-Spirals or the Beastmen or some new threat come to wipe out all life on Earth. " What's he done now?"

" Now you don't understand. Simon's not waking up, he looks quite bad by now. Pale and sweaty."

Now Rossiu's heart did freeze up. Was it wrong, that his first thoughts were of who would pilot Gurren Lagann if Simon died? Logically he didn't believe it was so, the lives of the many outweigh the few, if Simon died and Gurren Lagann became inoperable, then they would loss their secret ace.

" Make sure he gets the best care available. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Ending the call, he turned to the scientist, " I'm going to have to cut short our update today. Somthing's come up."

Without another word, he left the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, he saw a figure detach from the general crowd that always occupied this part of the building. Kinon Bachika had been one of his greatest supporters for a long time, and the closest thing he had to a true friend outside of Simon.

" Somthing's wrong." She said simply as they walked at speed through the corridor.

Rossiu saw no reason to argue, she knew him much too well for that anyway. " Simon has taken ill, he's being rushed to hospital as we speak."

Kinon was fast, catching up with his long strides, her face pale and shocked. Rossiu didn't blame her, Simon has always seemed larger than live, invincible and unstoppable, even he had to acknowledge that. To see him struck down by sickness, well it just didn't seem possible. Though he didn't consciously realize it, Rossiu was already forming a mental list of those pilots who might be capable of using Gurren Lagann.

_____________________________________________________________________

Demos gasped, pain shooting through his mind as he staggered under the onslaught. His left arm hung limply, the muscles severed by an expert slash. The massive wall that stood before him now dwarfed any of the other barriers he had yet come up against. This was less a wall than a fortress,a mighty bastion of the mind. Where previous walls had been mostly bare, this one was adorned with carvings, of drills and spirals. Demos had realized about two seconds ago that it reflected mental energy -- an effect, an attack upon it was an attack on himself.

Yet, he knew exactly what was behind that wall, there was only one thing, one power, that it could possibly require such a powerful defence. That energy, that thing which was so much like the holy Warp, yet so fundamentally different. He had to know, he needed to know. This wall would have stopped almost any assault by any Psyker or even a less powerful Daemon. Demos however was special. He could brute-force his way past it, though it would mean agony. Still, some things were worth the price, and something things had to be paid for in blood.

Demos concentrated.

_____________________________________________________________________

Darkness. Darkness surrounded him, enveloping him in it's folds, holding him like a long-lost child. Demos forced himself to thing through the pain that even now burned though his body, Slowly, it receded, but that still left the problem of floating in an infinite void of blackness. Even his enhanced senses couldn't pierce this darkness.

Abruptly, there was a flash and an image, a mental picture, a strange humanoid being, seemingly made out of energy, it rippled, it's face was simply a mouth and a pair of eyes, a tag came with the image it read '' Anti-Spiral''. Then there was a new image, a giant mech, must like the one that Simon piloted but this was different. Bigger , a green cloak of energy trailed it, yet Simon was still piloting, Demos knew somehow. A new image, a white-haired woman, the mech standing between her and the Anti-Spiral. She fell, but someone caught her, Simon! Wearing red-tainted sunglasses, he smiled, joy seemed to radiate from him. She looked up at him and beamed as well, in a sad way.

" I've come, Nia. Just like I promised."

" Impossible!" Spat the Anti-Spiral, " No sentient being can escape the Alternative Space Labyrinth."

Demos groaned, the pain in his head building to a blinding force, and it was echoed as well, not from his body or his mind, but elsewhere. It was echoed in what once, long ago, might have been a soul. Before centuries of servitude to the Dark Gods had ripped out the small part of him that could still be said to contain humanity.

Simon looked away from the white-haired woman, Nia, his gaze burning a hole into the Anti-Spiral.

" Don't underestimate us!" He snarled, " Whether or it be time, space, alternative realities."

The burning pain was growing now, and Demos had to fight to focus on the scene before his mind's eye. But he did focus, for this was the very centre of Simon's mind, home to the very things that made him who he was, if anywhere held the answer to his questions, it was here.

Simon continued, his voice growing in volume and power, it seemed to Demos' Warp-trained eyes that there was a slight aura of green around him. " They mean nothing to us, we will pierce all the paths and methods you've chosen!"

Now, Simon's voice was really echoing, yet he did not shout. It seemed his very words were infused with a deadly purpose and power. " That's who we are, The Dai-Gurren Brigade!"

Then, there was an explosion of the very same power that Demos had sought, to the Warp-Sorcerer, it glowed a vivid green light, always changing and shifting, the mech was immersed in the power, and even from here he could feel the changes. He saw it's form shift, becoming bigger and stronger but then his vision was obscured by the energy.

He could still feel it, however, it was like a flood of power, it spoke to him in the voice of all humanity, told of courage, bravery, victory. Then, the energy exploded, though the image was only a mental one, Demos couldn't help but feel the force of the blow. He would have staggered, but found himself unable to move. The light intensified farther, the mech was still changing, soaking it up like a sponge! Now at last, Demos realized the power contained in that one form. He cried out in pain, the searing light blinding him, now the image seemed to overlay reality, and he could see nothing but darkness. But he could still hear. The voice of the woman, of Nia . "Even if we were to be enslaved in the galaxy's cycle of birth."

" The feelings that were left behind will open the door!" Cried another one, this was tagged ''Yoko''.

Demos could feel the pure power reverberating, an almost solid thing, almost alive. He found it was so much like the Warp, yet it was not... It did not have the same feeling as the Warp.. it did not ask for anything in return for this power. What kind of being could grant strength like this unto mere humans?!

" Even if the infinite universe were to go against us!" Said another man, his tone one-hundred percent sure.

" Our burning blood will cut through fate!" Roared the white-haired man that Demos had seen through the eyes of his late brother, Kars. He was apparently called Viral.

Simon's voice spoke now, louder than all the others, it was like a blade cutting through the ears, it talked directly to the brain, like some kind of energy it was hot and deadly, and most of all, it was supremely confidant . " We will break through all the heavens and dimensions!"

Then, all the voices spoke at once in a thunderous roar of power and determination, " Who the hell do you think we are?! Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann!"

Then, the energy was back, the pain in his body multiplied and he screamed despite himself. He felt himself thrown backwards, the energy invading his own mind. Dazed, confused, he felt all of his defences melt away like so much butter before a a fiery blade. The Spiral power rushed through the fortress of his mind, and the pain he felt was so much that even his enhanced biology couldn't cope. The last thing Demos saw was the massive towering form of the mech he now knew was called Gurren Lagann. It took up his entire field of vision, and he wondered dizzily, just how big was it?

Then he knew nothing.

_______________________________________________________________________

How much time past he didn't know, but when Demos came too, he was still in the inner mind of Simon. There was now a floor under him, however, and he surmised that he had been moved while asleep. There was no pain, he realized, and his wounds had been healed, but how? Repairing a mental projection should have been impossible for anyone save the person projecting it -- in this case, himself.

Slowly, he stood up. While it was true that there was no more pain, he did feel different somehow, but he couldn't name how... Shaking his head, he looked around him. It was a bare room, no door. Well that wouldn't present any trouble. He moved to smash apart the nearest wall as he had the barriers on his way in when a voice spoke from behind him, " It's called Spiral Power."

Demos spun as fast as his enhanced body could move, he saw a figure was leaning against the wall -- how could he have missed that? Clearly some kind of illusion was at work here. The figure stood up,the red cloak trailing behind it, the sunglasses glinted.

_Ah, _thought Demos, another projection. He rapidly changed his mind when it went on to speak again. " The power to do the impossible. To fight on against all odds, this is the true core of what makes a person... a Spiral."

Demos shook his head,_ this can't be. I would have instantly sensed any other intruder and projections don't have the brain-power required to speak. _

" Who are you?" He asked, mostly to buy time while he fought off the last dregs of sleep and gathered his psychic might. Slowly, he moved into a battle-ready position. He knew that he could beat this guy, there was nothing stopping him from just killing the man and being on his way, yet something was holding him back... he needed to know.... all his life he had been driven to understand all he could. " How did you get in here without me sensing you?"

The man smirked, light glinted off his glasses, " That's what separates a normal man from a hero, both of them have the power, but only one of them will be able to use it. The will to defy the gods and to cut through fate, the burning desire to do something, anything, the restlessness, that is something every true Spiral feels. What you saw and felt, was the true face of Spiral Power. The power to do the impossible, to defy reality, to reach up and take the stars from the sky. This is Simon's power, this is the power of mankind!"

" Impressive I admit." Snarled Demos, wondering why he hadn't killed this man yet, " But Simon will soon be dead at my hands, even as we speak he is being rushed to the nearest hospital. But we both know it wont be enough. Even were I to leave now, Simon would still waste away and die a slow death. His time is soon to be over, and the time of this planet us also drawing to a close. The others are coming, the entire Chapter fighting together for the first time since the Enlightening! You don't stand a chance."

When he spoke, the other man's voice was thoughtful, " Don't we? I think you have failed to understand that to Spirals, there are no limits, only barriers to be drilled through. As long as a single one of us stands, the fire in our hearts will burn on. And trust me when I say that Spiral Power is a force you have never seen before! You felt it running through your body, fighting against the taint of your Warp."

" What?!" Gasped Demos, this was worse than anything else, this was blasphemy. That his own body could be cleansed of the holy Warp! Rage overtook him and his fist rocketed for the man's head! The man's own hanf shoot up, moving so fast as to be a blur and grabbed hold of the Chaos Marine's fist. To Demos' utter shock, it was like punching an unbreakable wall. He struggled but his hand would not move. The man grinned again, suddenly Demos had a very bad feeling about this.

" So it's true then?" Said the man, " On the outside, you would easily overpower me. But in here, our bodies matter little. Our minds are what will decide the outcome of any fight. Our determination, the desire to succeed above all else. That is what allows me to defy you so easily. You asked my name, it's Kamina. Former leader of the Dai-Gurren Brigade. A wandering soul, I felt your Warp and found it wanting. Full of monsters and nightmares! Well, the Dai-Gurren Brigade is here now, and with or without me, you can be sure that they will carve a better place out of this Warp."

" You cannot defeat the Gods!" Roared Demos in frustration, this couldn't be happening to him! Held still by a simple human. It was unthinkable, impossible!

" Can't we? We wont know until we try. I once told Simon, '' your drill will pierce the heavens'', now I guess he has a chance to find out if its true."

" You're insane!" Demos thundered, " A human cannot even exist in the presence of the Great Gods, you would be instantly killed!"

"I think we don't need to fight them directly? And if we do, so what? Then they will taste the power of Gurren Lagann and its guardians. Now, take a message to your masters. This place is a dark universe, filled with fear and hate and war, I think, that will all change."

" What? You're clearly mad."

Kamina shrugged, " Now begone!"

Suddenly, there was a river of the blinding green Spiral Energy ripping into his mental form, pain bloomed red and hot, he felt himself being pulled apart at the very seams. With a last garbled curse, he broke contact. There was a few minutes of darkness while his mind returned to his body. Finding himself back in the fist, he rapidly stood up to report to the Chapter Master. He would not like this, not like this at all.

_________________________________________________________________

A second figure strode out of the shadows behind Kamina. The young man turned and nodded to him.

" Did you have to tell him so much of the plan?" Asked the other man.

" I didn't have to." Replied Kamina off-hand " But there was something about him. The Spiral Matrix responded to him, and it shouldn't have. It doesn't much matter anyway, did you feel the power within him? Like Spiral but not? I think, that if Spiral Nemesis ever did happen, and if it emitted it's own warped form of Spiral, it would be like that."

" This must be the power of the Warp then." Said the older man, " impressive certainly, but not enough to give the Anti-Spirals a run for their money. As long as the higher ranking enemies don't take too much notice of us this plan should work perfectly. That's what Simon is for."

Kamina nodded, still not entirely comfortable about Simon's place in their grand plan.

" It's OK, he's the most powerful Spiral I have ever met." Said the old man, guessing what was on Kamina's mind. " He'll pull through."

Images of Simon throughout his life flashed past Kamina's eyes, " Of that, I have no doubt."

Without another word, Kamina let his own mental projection disintegrate away to nothing, rejoining the shadows that it had once been. This left the old man alone in the bare room. He paused for a second to reflect, his hand automatically moved to the thing which hung around his neck. It looked very much like a Core-Drill. With a shrug, the man who had once been known as Lord Genome also let his form fade into the shadows of none-existence. It was going to be a very busy day.

___________________________________________________________________

AN: At last, the plot rears its head, but what is the Spiral Matrix? And does Kamina really mean it when he said Simon could fight the Chaos Gods? Or was it just bluster. I don't know if I went overboard with that bit or not so I would appreciate some feedback there, if anyone could give it. Also, a minor thing, but the English spelling of Viril is actually ''Viral'' so I have changed the spelling to that.

Anyhow, hope you enjoyed.


	4. The Keeper of Secrets

The work crews scrambled over the partially constructed skeletal shape of the newborn machine like ants swarming a defenceless bird. The countless scaffoldings that surrounded it from all sides, even covering the top of the project gave it a very grim look. A look only reinforced by the countless tubes and pipes running from sockets in the roof, walls and floor, they snaked across the floor, under the legs of the multitude of working humanity, crawled up the scaffolding and connected into ports in the side and bottom of the construction. The sound of drills wafted through the cavernous chamber. The chatter of worker the mutliverse over, the cursing as a tool was dropped, the thumps and bumps as they slowly affixed various items and systems onto the main body. The harsh sound of welding pierced the atmosphere, here and there, another coating of something was being added to the main body of the project. It looked flexible and foam-like, but the way it was carried made it look extremely heavy.

The smell of oils, and burning and freshly worked metals were all strong in the air, as Rossiu strode from the nearby elevator. Surrounded, as always, by a flock of guards, reps, techs and other hangers-on. Most of them were unused to being in a workplace like this, and several wrinkled their noses or screwed up their eyes as the smell struck them. To Rossiu, it was not unpleasant, bringing back the days of his youth. He liked this place, in a strange way, it had a purpose that the rest of his life seemed lacking. He may not have been able to find out what caused the Anomaly, or the best way to deal with it, but here, he saw all of the workers steadily moving towards one goal: The completion of his project. He took a good look at it now, on the approach from the elevator, it looked very impressive. The three mighty landing struts outstretched, the scaffolding marred the effect slightly, as did the half-completed look of the thing, but he knew they were making very good time. He had devoted all of the city's resources to this, the secret project that had begun shortly after their jump to this place. It was a magnificent work, suitable for the future history books. It would look ugly when it was done, haste does not allow for beautification, but it would be functional and that was all Rossiu asked of it. The engines had been a real problem, so he was told, and the thing had not been designed to survive for any length of time, at full capacity it would hold enough supplies to feed its crew for around a month. Nowhere near enough to keep them moving at their own speed. This would have made the entire project virtually useless, if it were not for one thing.

" Ah! Rossiu, you look much older when you're tired."

Leeron was hurrying across the floor to them, his purple outfit a stark contrast to the dull grey of the workers surrounding them. He was waving, but he too looked tired out. Rossiu found himself feeling a strange kinship with the man, they had both been working near constantly since they arrived in this strange place. The structure taking shape behind them was Leeron's designs, combined with the latest and greatest in cutting edge technology.

The man reached them, shaking Rossiu's hand, he said, " But you certainly look very distinguished nowadays, if you weren't already taken I'd invite you to dinner."

Rossiu waved away the other man's words, " How is construction going?"

Knowing Rossiu's rush, Leeron did not take offence at the rude gesture. " Well, better than I expected." He said, his tone starting to take on that serious tone he only used when working on new projects. " The armour will take several months to install and build, the engines wont be finished for about four weeks, the computer core is finished and nearly ready to be connected."

Rossiu cast his glance up at the half-formed ship that was slowly being assembled, it was a massive, squatting thing. Nominally based on the Citadel of Terra, it was much smaller and with a far lower tech base, it was nothing compared to the original. Rossiu could have likened it to one of the lower class of ganmen fighting full power Gurren Lagann, but even that was giving it far too much credit. In battle, this would be nothing more than a glorified meatshield. Still, it might prove vital to the survival of the human race. Not just this, but its brothers that were being constructed all over the planet. Not one of them was finished, this one, the closest to completion, was still months, if not years, away from actually flying. Still, it would be a test bed for the technology that Rossiu intended to turn to war if he was forced to.

" The faster than light drive?" He asked, this was important to the extreme, without this, the ship would never be able to fulfil its purpose.

Leeron answered promptly, " None-functional. None of our pilots could generate the amount of power required. To be honest, it would take someone of Simon's stature to even have a chance of doing it."

Rossiu cursed inwardly, but there was still hope to be had, " You said you have another option, did it work out?"

Leeron nodded, " Sort of. You see, I original planned a sort of domino effect -- a group of them would be able to achieve a high Spiral rating than any could alone, but I had to scrap that when it turned out not to work. However, after the faster then light device failed, I turned to working on it and I think I've figured out a way."

" That sounds promising." Encouraged Rossiu, his eyes still taking in the massive form of the ship.

" I have modified it, using ganmen technology, as well as some new ones, the device can..'' hook up'' with a powerful Spiral being, once that is done, it will be able to follow said being, expending the being's energy to use it's FTL."

" Good." Said Rossiu, spirits recovering. " But if that is the case, if the Spiral being doesn't move with it, the ship will stop?"

" Yes. However, if there was a massive beacon of Spiral Energy -- Gurren Lagann for instance -- and if it travelled with them, then there is no reason an entire fleet of these ships could not travel at FTL speeds."

" But that would require Gurren Lagann." Mused Rossiu, " Which would, in turn, require that Simon be fit to pilot it." He felt a minor jolt of regret that he had not thought of Simon sooner, but he had much work to do. Apparently, Simon had suffered some kind of brain damage. He was not expected to wake up. They would have to find a new pilot for Gurren Lagann.

" When will it be ready to fly?"

" At the most basic level, with no armour, most of its systems not installed, and without the power to get into orbit? Maybe a month, the others will be much longer."

Rossiu nodded, he knew that this was lighting fast by the standards of space-craft construction. They had to design it as they went along, but it was not fast enough. If there was another raid, it would be much sooner than a month. Still, there was little he could really do.

" Keep me informed."

Leeron nodded, "Always."

__________________________________________________________

_I dig every day, all day. _

The tunnel was damp with the recent rain, the fragile earth giving way beneath his drill. The small boy wearing the blue coat continued forwards, years of practice meaning he slid across the earth like a fight through water.

_Sometimes, if I dig a lot, the chief will give me some steak. If I don't dig, then I'm punished._

The drill he was holding effortlessly tore through the earth, lengthening the tunnel quickly. The boy didn't need to check to know that he was far in advance of anyone else, he always was. A tiny drop of moisture struck his head. He paused for a second. It had rained up on the surface and now the liquid was seeping down. He quickly starting digging again, the punishments were painful, and he had no wish to go through them again. The strange star burned into his forehead itched, but he ignored it.

_So why am I digging? Why do I spend my days toiling in the darkness? Do I want the steaks? Is that why I outwork everyone else? No... the steak isn't nice... it tastes horrible. So are the punishments what motivate me to work faster than the others? Maybe, but I don't really think so. If I were honest with myself, I would admit that I'm missing something... I don't know what it is, it feels like I've lost a tiny part of my soul, and no matter where I look, it is always missing. _

A torrent of the liquid burst through the damp room, taking him in the head. He cried out in surprise and panic. Quickly, two disturbing facts became clear to the boy: 1: This water was warm, not cold as rain-water should be, and 2: it was red.

His scream echoed through the tunnel.

_____________________________________________________

" S-Simon...."

Yoko sat quietly on an uncomfortable chair on the edge of the room. Simon's bed was a forest of monitors, computers and screens. His blood was being tested, his breathing measured. His brain-waves monitored. To Yoko, it made him look so weak, pale. It. Just. Didn't. Make. Sense. Simon was one of the most healthy men she had ever known, he was a Spiral for God's sake, how could he just fall into a coma like that? But he had.... He almost looked naked, without his usual aura, his commanding presence. He seemed bare and without defence.

" Simon." She said, " I don't know if you can hear me, but don't give up, OK? You'll beat this..."

Viral put a steady hand on her shoulder. Yoko had never really liked the Beastman, worked with yes, but liked was a different thing all together. Still, she was glad of his support now.

" Simon, don't give up."

_____________________________________________________________

Demos was in pain. He had been in constant pain since his return from the mind of the pilot, Simon. His muscles wanted to spasm, and only his iron will kept them in place, his head felt like it was being set alight, but he kept a lid on it. Psychical pain, he could handle, but there was another side to this assault as well. It was mental, tearing down barriers he had long since put into place.

Just what was this power? He wondered, as he sat in the room that served as his quarters. what kind of eldtritch might could reach through the Warp and do this to him? His body crackled with invisible flames, his mind was in agony, but he knew what he had to do: Kill Simon, then this would all be over. He prayed that they would arrive soon, it seemed that the Great Warp was amiable to their desires, as the tides of un-reality were pushing them in the direction of false-Terra. He swore that he would kill Simon himself, that was a sacred promise, made on the name of his God. He would not fail a second time.

With the ease born of centuries of practice, he loaded his Bolter. The snarling Daemonic face a mirror of his own inner rage. He would not fail again. The powerful Psyker reached out with his mind, feeling the ship around him like a living creature. The minds of his battle-brothers were sharp and hot, easily located. Burning points of controlled anger, burning desires to rend and tear. So few of them were like himself, many wanted to destroy but so few wanted to learn, to grow better and become stronger.

" Spiral Power." He said to himself, as the burning intensified. He knew damn well what was causing it, though he tried not to bring it to mind.

There was being a war waged for his body. The Spiral energy had corrupted him, it still lingered, tainting his once-holy form. Now, the Warp was struggling to regain control, Demos focused on the power within himself, opening his bewildering array of mental fortifications to the Warp that surrounded them, practically drinking in the writhing energy, it was dangerous even to one such as him. The Warp was ever unpredictable, it could aid him one minute and kill him the next, but he would rather die at this point than to lose the blessings of wise Tzeentch Demos had always been lucky in that respect. He had served the Lord of Change for as long as he could remember after the fall, where others gained strange, and often startling, mutations that were of limited use. Wings, claws, and the like. All of them were useless, for the one thing they did not improve was the mind. It seemed then, that his God shared Demos' opinions. To look at him, you would see an Adpetus Astartes, certainly mutated -- the spines sprouting out of his back a sure sign, but not massively so. You might even hazard a guess that he had not been in the employ of the Dark Gods very long. In fact, Demos has extremely heavily mutated. It was simply that his own changes didn't show on the outside. If anyone ever tried to use his geneseed to create a new marine.... there was no telling what sick creature would be created, but Demos hoped some day to find out. However, the most heavily influenced part of his body was his brain. It had been opened to the Warp, changed to better direct its flow and power, to surf the tides of un-reality like a skilled champion. Demos had better control than nearly all of the others who followed his God. He would not allow all the hard work, the sacrifice, both metaphorical and literal., to go to waste. He would purge his body of the power called ''Spiral'', and he would do it now.

Pain flowed through him like lava as he forced his mind to open wider to the Warp, this was suicide, he knew, even he could only handle so much raw Warp-Energy, and he was a sitting duck with no defences like this, but it would be better to fall prey to a Daemon, than to live on a living insult to the power of Chaos. Agony burned his body as the two rivals -- Warp energy and Spiral Power, went to war for control over his soul.

_______________________________________________________________________

Kamina did not pace. He couldn't because without a mind powerful enough to give him form, he was but an insubstantial ghost in the Warp. For the same reason, he could not see, hear, feel or taste. He could, however, _sense. _ Nevertheless, there was a definite feeling about him that suggested that if he could have paced, he would have done so.

_" Time is running out." _Said Lord Genome, or rather, didn't say. For there was no sound made,and no ears to hear it. However, the shape of the words echoed in Kamina's mind, it was enough to allow them to communicate.

_" Enough standing around." _Growled Kamina, in the same fashion, " _Simon's not waking up and the Chaos Marines are getting closer. Rossiu means well but if he tries what he did with the Anti-Spirals, they'll be unprotected in the Warp and we all know what that means."_

_" If we move too fast we risk drawing attention to ourselves, that is something we cannot handle until Spiral Matrix reaches one-hundred percent power. I don't need to remind you that while we are still powerful, we no longer have access to the raw Spiral energy we once did. A sufficiently powerful Daemon would be able to defeat us. You were only able to defeat that Chaos Marine by leaching Simon's own stock of Spiral Power."_

Kamina let loose what would have been a roar of frustration in any other place. " _Then what can we do? I'm not gonna just sit back and let the Dai-Gurren Brigade fall apart!"_

_" Simply wait for the Spiral Matrix to finish, then the real game begins."_

_" You think this is all a game?! Careful, I don't think it'd take much for you to slip back into your old self, Genome."_

Lord Genome ignored the barbed retort, knowing that Kamina was extremely unused to sitting out a situation as he was now being forced to do. He felt the pulsating presence of his charge, the Spiral Matrix. It was as ghostly and insubstantial as them... yet it was also different. It glowed with a bright inner light, It had life of a sort, and it could be seen! Or rather, a mental picture of it could be seen. It looked very much like a Core-Drill, save that it was coloured gold and hollowed out so that it could fit over a Core-Drill like a snug shell. Complex circuits of energy waved and glowed inside the Matrix, and it was giving off a green light.

_" Besides, you know the Chaos Marine has tainted Simon's mind. If it is to be defeated, Simon must cleanse himself, he must do it alone without help, or we risk more than just our own existence. _

Suddenly, Lord Genome cried out, and would have staggered, had he a body to do it with. Kamina also felt the sharp pain and gasped.

_" What the hell just happened?!"_

_" The Spiral Field protecting Earth has been punctured." _Answered Lord Genome quickly, feeling the gaping wound in reality.

_" That means that --"_

_" Yes, that Earth is no longer protected from the influence of the Dark Gods."_

Kamina made to move back into the world of mortals, but Lord Genome stopped him.

_" We cannot aid them now, Kamina. We must repair the Spiral Field before anything worse than Daemons makes it through"_

_________________________________________________________________

15 minutes ago:

The Earth was surrounded by the chaotic, multi-coloured Warp like a single jewel of cold sanity in a hot, insane universe. If one had the eyes, they would have seen a glittering field of green energy standing like a silent sentinel between the boundaries of Gods and men. It seemed to pulse, to grow and weaken, fuelled by every being on the planet below. It was a massive, blazing wall separating the space of the damned, from the lands of those who might still be saved. Yet, it was like a single candle to the monstrous presence of the Warp. A spluttering candle, rapidly weakening. From the moment that Earth had arrived in the Warp, the Dark Gods had taken notice, indeed it had become something of a competition to see who could crack through first and lay claim to the planet below. Khorn the mighty, with all his legendary subtleness, sent wave after wave of red-tinged Warp energy against the barrier. Smashing his assaults to pieces again and again, but always there was a new one. Nurgle, beloved of his followers, waited in the wings, observing, searching, waiting. He knew that all things weaken over time, and this wall was no exception. He would have his world, now or later it didn't matter to him. Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways, always insidious and cunning, had attempted to sneak an agent in, one who would carry the taint of Chaos to the masses. So far, it seemed to be working for though said agent had been repulsed, Chaos was slowly taking root amongst the lower orders. Lastly, alluring Slaanesh gloried in the emotions that were creating the barrier. The youngest and weakest of the Gods, Slaanesh was nevertheless sure of his ability to break through. It was, after all, built upon emotions, and emotions were his playthings. It was thus, that slowly, fighting all the way, the Spiral Field started to buckle, there were no holes in it as yet, but each of the four Gods readied his legions, his Daemons, it was only a matter of time now.

__________________________

10 minutes ago:

Something was wrong with the sky. A simple observation, but one that was bringing out all the people in Kamina city. The clouds were being blown away, but there was no wind, there was a _feeling _ about the place, and up above, the sky was not the blue of day nor the black of night, it was blood red. People lined the streets, pointing, talking, fears leapt from person to person. It was a demon, it was the devil, it was another raid, the Anti-Spirals had done it, it was Spiral Nemesis. Panic replaced fear, then terror overtook panic. Hardly anyone ran, because there was nowhere to run to, all over the planet it was the same. When it started to rain blood, things only got worse.

Rossiu stood on the balcony overlooking the city, shielded from the blood-rain, he nevertheless felt deep in his bones that something was terribly wrong. He turned to one of his ever-present aids, " Get on the line to the military now, I want the Grapearls ready to deploy at a seconds notice."

The man hurried off, Rossiu knew he should have done it himself, but he couldn't bring himself away from the bleeding sky, it was haunting, terrifying, yet something in it was...alluring. He couldn't tear himself a way. A small part of him was screaming that this was wrong, that this was dangerous but that part was slowly being overwhelmed by the beauty of the event.

_______________________________

7 Minutes Ago:

Leeron sat in the half-darkness of the control room, the green lights of the buttons and stat-read-outs illuminated his features in a way most pleasing. But enough of that, he had much work to do.

" Grapearl squads, roll-call."

Almost at once, the radio spat static, then two familiar voices said in sync, " Squad one reporting for duty."

_Gimmy and Darry _He thought, _why am I not surprised that they're the first to respond. _

" Copy that." He said, his use of militarized slang letting them know the situation was real, " You're assigned to guard city-section G-thirteen. Spread out and provide cover, we don't know what will come through, so we'll need to be ready for anything."

The rest of the squads quickly sounded off as well, Leeron gave them their direction curtly. He felt that they were missing a vital part of their defences -- Simon and Gurren Lagann wouldn't be taking place in this fight. While the Grapearls were powerful, and he'd designed them himself, he was not egocentric enough to think they could compete with Gurren Lagann on anything but the most basic of levels. Still, they would have to use what they had and prey that it was enough to turn aside whatever new threat fate had in store for them.

________________________________

5 Minutes Ago:

Yoko peered through the window of the clean-smelling hospital room, Viral joined her as together, they looked out at the red rain.

" This doesn't look good." Viral announced, " Last time something like this happened, it was the Anti-Spirals."

Yoko frowned, " Yeah..." Now she had the urge to go out and figure out what the hell was happening, but a single look at Simon's sleeping form was enough to blunt that urge. She was needed here and now, whatever was happening out there, she was sure Rossiu could handle it.

______________________________________

3 Minutes Ago:

" Darry, what's the status on the team?"

" We've taken up position around the section, we wont let anything through, Leeron."

" Good, hold there no matter what. This section is the one with Simon's hospital in it, don't let anything happen to him."

Darry's voice was hard and edged with determination when he spoke again, " I guarantee nothing will get past us!"

Darry moved his Grapearl into a better position, the giant hand-gun overlayed his screen with a targeting rectangle. Motion detection was on, all systems running hot. " We wont let anyone get past us." He said to himself.

His twin, Gimmy had her own Grapearl standing next to his, her gun drawn as well. He trusted her with his live, and knew that she felt the same way he did. They wouldn't let Simon down. The other three members of their team had taken up positions around the city-section, careful to keep the roads free and not to squash anyone.

Darry could feel that something was coming, it echoed in his soul, he felt slightly sick, but not like any way he had ever felt before. He tightened his grip on the controls, swearing to himself that if Simon were to die, it would be over his own cooling, dismembered, body.

_________________________________________

1 Minute Ago: Impact.

When it happened, it happened suddenly, the invisible green shield around the planet shimmered, then it give off searing illumination, and a tiny lance of darkness forced itself past the barrier, like a spear ripping through flesh, like an arrow cutting into a wounded target, like the wraith of a God, the tendril of Warp energy crackled and danced as it rushed downwards like a fork of the most evil lightening ever seen. The Spiral Field reacted to contain the outbreak and limit the power of the Warp, but it was far too late to stop it totally. To the people of the city below, it must have looked like some kind of orbital attack, as its great speed cleared the distance between orbit and Kamina city.

Like some fiendish incarnation of electrical power, it homed in on one of the taller buildings, striking its tip with a single finger of pulsating Warp-power. At once, all the people inside the building screamed, some in pain, others in joy, they died screaming, the sheer power of the Warp coursing through the building, earthing itself in their mortal forms and ripping their souls from their bodies. The building itself, lasted little longer. Not made to contain the raw, seething energy of un-reality, it buckled and bent, exploding outwards as if stocked to the brim with high explosives. Nearby buildings took the hits, falling themselves or catching a light as the Warp arced from one to the next. Hundreds died then, and that was just the arrival of the enemy. The survivors hid where they could, in buildings or in cars on the street. For a few lengthy minutes it seemed that it could even be over, but then, a harsh light spewed from the slagged foundations of the first building. Everyone near it was driven insane with lust, anger, hatred, love or joy. Inexcusable acts were committed under the power of the Prince of Pleasure then. Those fortunate enough not to be too close to the light were tempted with visions of their deepest, darkest desires no matter how perverted or morally unsound.

Then, the light pulled back like a thing alive, and for a second, it seemed that it might be retreating, but there was no such luck. It gathered together, pulsating sickeningly as it formed into a humanoid shape as tall as any Ganmen. Slowly, the light danced and whirled in a dazzling display of beauty and grace, yet all the while, something was taking shape within. It started with an arm, muscles bulged and it looked like it belonged to some sort of ape, it ended in ta wicked looking claw, then a twin joined it and they connected to a massive barrel chest. The head was like that of a mythical creature, a cow or bull head, with human eyes, yet they were dark as crystal, a crown of horns jutted cruelly into the air and its mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth. From the waist down, it's legs were shaggy and hoofed. The Greater Daemon threw back its bestial head and roared, " I live! All hail the Prince of Pleasure!"

The emotions of the surrounding humanity whipped it into a frenzy, it could feel fear, pain, agony from those wounded, it roared again, no words this time, but a bestial scream of lust that struck cords with all present. The air around it shimmered as it exerted its influence, to bring out all that humanity struggled so hard to contain. There was much work to be done, knew the Daemon, even as it set out, as it walked, the humans nearest to it were overcome with lust or hatred. It was a pleasant back-ground feeling for the Daemon. Until that is, a force struck strong enough to blow chunks of its flesh from its bones, the beast staggered, shocked more than hurt, the beautiful pain thundered through its body, the flesh reforming even as it savoured the exquisite pain.

The Keeper of Secrets locked its cold, brilliant eyes onto the face of its attacker. A giant mech, painted blue. It held some kind of gun, but the thing had done nothing more than minor damage. A smirk slowly worked its way across the Keeper's face. Ah, what a welcome! Here was fresh prey. It could feel the fear from here, it tasted so good, it made the Keeper lust for more, to hear the agonized screams of the tormented pilot, to see the subtle play of muscles and blood, it growled. A low, seductive sound, bringing to mind all the lusts and wonders capable of being experienced by a human.

_______________________________________________________

Darry was shaking, hands on the controls were sweaty, he couldn't help it. It wasn't fear -- much, but that _thing_ seemed to radiate a bewildering amount of emotions, his knees were shaking, his bowel knotted.

" W-what is this thing?" He asked in a weak voice.

" Grapearl squad one, come in." Said Leeron from control, " Reinforcements are on the way, hold it there until they arrive."

Darry nodded, the voice bringing him back to reality, he was thankful to see that his twin, Gimmy had already ordered the rest of the squad to close in, they had already raised their guns. Darry's own weapon locked onto the monster's face with a beep.

" Fire." Roared both Darry and Gimmy in sync, their hands jabbing down on the button.

The five Grapearls were deadly in their attacks, each one held a handgun like weapon, which will not capable of a great rate of fire, was fully capable of obliterating any Ganmen. The weapons launched their lethal payload. The Keeper of Secrets roared as chunks of flesh were blasted from its form, and its blood fell down to mix with that already rained from the heavens. Darry nodded to himself, noticing that while the weapons were doing damage, none of it was fatal. One of the other pilots -- a new recruit by the name of Yaon, also made the same conclusion. Save that he decided to do something about it. His grey, mass-produced Grapearl leapt forwards, powerful legs easily propelling the mech at the wounded foe. There was a brief flash of light as Yaon holstered his gun and drew out the blade carried by all Grapearls for close combat. Yaon was good, Darry noted almost without meaning to. He controlled his mech well, in a few years he would almost certainly be officer materiel, his well-disciplined strike aimed for the throat, in the logical assumption that a humanoid beast would have the same weaknesses. The red light of the sky reflected off the blade as it ploughed towards its target, Darry saw that it would be an expert cut, probably severing the neck all together. Then, it went to hell, there was a sudden blast of.... of emotion? Darry didn't know how to describe it, only that it was inviting, powerful, deceitful and, to some dark part of him, delicious.

Yaon was unprepared for this and it caught him, he froze, only for half a second but it was far more than enough, faster than any beast its size had a right to be, the Daemon's twin pincer/claws closed around the arms of the grey Grapearl, before Darry or the squad could do anything more, they closed, there was a flash of electricity, twin explosions, the dis-armed mech staggered as it fell, Yaon trying to exert some small measure of control, for a second it seemed that he might just do it, but then a powerful tail tipped with a stinger ripped through the chest of the Grapearl. Darry was speechless, it had happened in less time than they could react in!

Even as he urged his mech forwards, the Daemon ripped Yaon's Grapearl apart. As if savouring the man's terror, Darry didn't hear his twin's cry not to be stupid, nor the calls of the rest of the squad. One thing focused his mind like crystal: Someone had died, someone under his care had been murdered, it didn't matter to him that it was done in battle, that Yaon had struck first, it was still murder. With a dark rage in his heart, and passion burning in his veins, Darry launched himself at the Keeper of Secrets, his blade arcing for the thing's neck. It turned, and its eyes seemed to lock onto his. He cried out as a wave of what could only be called lust washed over him, to his own horror, his body responded, shock froze him as it had done Yaon, and again, the greater Daemon of Slaneesh lashed out, this time against the heavier armour of his customized Grapearl, Darry cried out as he was thrown forwards, a massive dent in the armour and several systems going haywire. The Grapearl skidded and smashed into the smoking hulk of a ruined building, rubble cascaded over it and by the time Darry could look up, he saw that the rest of the squad had engaged the Daemon hand to hand.

_What happened? _He asked himself, shaking his head, he switched out most of the damaged systems, the thing's attack had done a load of damage but none that would impair function for some time.

He rose, pushing the rubble of him.

" Leeron." He growled, " What's happened to those reinforcements?"

No answer. His com system must have been damaged in the initial attack. Suddenly, a burst of flames marked the death of another of his pilots. Darry watched as the sad remains of the Grapearl hit the ground. Anger overcame him once more and he rejoined the fight.

The Keep of Secrets, was fast, lithe and strong, it was able to avoid most of the cuts and slashes of the opposing Grapearls. To it, this fight was little more than a game. Oh it could have won right away, could have used all its power to overload the mind of these mortals with sensations, but this way was better. This way it could to experience all of the emotions that rushed through the enemies that had dared strike at it. It had enjoyed the deaths of the two pilots, the one called Yaon had known it was coming, had wept tears as his controls caved in around him in a blessed moment of pure agony. The second, Markom, has been more surprised by his death, but the second of searing pain as the explosion ate away at him coupled with the overwhelming sense of failure more than made up for the briefness. Now, the first one was getting up again, the Keeper could feel his anger, it drank it up like the finest wine. It was going to _enjoy _its stay here.

It staggered back, more shots stitching across its chest and face, blood splashed outwards and it rejoiced in the pain, for that too was emotion and thereby worthy of the Prince of Pleasure. A blade was thrust through its chest from behind by the first pilot, the Keeper lashed out with its mental powers.

Darry grinned as he embedded his sword in the thing's chest, blood washing along the blade like a crimson tide. It was all over... now it was all --He screamed, a wall of emotions striking him like a solid object. Unbidden, visions rose up in his mind, A million scenes of lust and love played before his mind, he cried out again and again, feeling it all, Darry wasn't to know his Grapearl had stopped moving, wasn't to know that the Daemon was closing its claws around the neck of his mech.

" Darry!" Cried Gimmy, whipping out her own weapon and aiming for the arms that were holding her twin but it was no use, any damage was instantly healed, with reptilian patience, the Daemon ignored the desperate attacks of Gimmy and the other Grapeal pilot.

Darry looked into the eyes of death itself, they were black, emotionless, like those of a shark or pit-bull. Being this close to the Greater Daemon was not good for his mental health. its emotions radiated outwards and Darry was being forced to receive them, he felt sullied by the savage joy, the sharp bursts of excitement as the others peppered it with shots. He cried out, gripping the controls and forcing the Grapearl to fight back. Its mechanical hands came up and tried to force the claws apart but it was no use, then the tail came up, the stinger lanced into his mech, propelled by muscles and the iron will of the Keeper. It punched through the armour as if it were nothing and Darry suddenly knew exactly how outmatched they were.

_Once, _the barbed limb buried itself in the chest of the Grapearl, Darry was jolted badly, hydrolics were shot and the strength of the mech waning. _twice, _ primary power was knocked out, explosions rippled through the mech, systems flared on and off, a warning horn blurred. Darry saw Gimmy rushing forwards but he also saw she wouldn't get there in time. _three._ Secondary power took a hit, the lights and controls died one by one, leaving Darry in the dark with the image of the Daemon's face burned into his mind. _four, _the left leg was almost totally severed, the arms were now hanging lifelessly. _ five, _ the muscular tail smashed into the side of the Grapearl again, this time the armour bent with a horribly screech, luckily it had already lost all power, otherwise the wound would have resulted in an explosion strong enough to threaten Darry. It released him at the same time, the force of the blow sending the powerless Grapearl tumbling through the rubble of the city that they had once protected. It came to rest up against a ruined skyscraper, Darry quickly tried to re-activaqte but his Grapearl was dead, all systems were down with no power what so ever. The throw had ended him some way away from the Daemon, so its influence was massively weakened.

" Just what is this thing?" He demanded, " It took down a top of the range customised Grapearl in just five attacks! Damn it, Leeron, we need that help now."

To the Keeper of Secrets, Darry's frustration was but another facet of its worship of Slaneesh, it would leave him now until the end of the fight. It could just imagine what kind of torment would rip through the pilot's soul as he saw the rest of his team butchered like cattle. Another mech struck it in the head with a shot, it staggered back, hope dawned but it died stillborn when the Daemon simply powered itself forwards, leaping faster than they had anticipated, hope turned to horror then, as it buried it's claw/pincers in the chest of the attacker. The Keeper soaked in the man's horror as he realized what was about to happen. His Grapearl exploded, killing him instantly. Now the Keeper turned its attention to the last Grapearl, the mind there was clearly female. It grinned, it was going to _enjoy _this part.

____________________________________________

_I dig all day, every day. Sometimes I'm soaked in water from heavy rain above-ground, other times, its not water. But I still dig, I still search. What am I missing? What am I looking for? I don't know what it is.... but I have this feeling that I should.... I do known one thing, and that is that if I ever see, it I _will _recognise it. _

The boy wandered along the tunnel, searching, palming through the dirt in the hopes of finding something, the thing he was looking for, but as always, it was not there. Despair threatened to claw away at him, but he fought it back. If it wasn't here, he would just go on searching, he would keep looking for eternity, if he had to.

Suddenly, he felt an urge... a pull, without thinking, he took his drill and changed the direction of the tunnel.

________________________________________________________________

Gimmy cried out, the back of her Grapearl slamming into a building, knocking it down, she had about a second to hope that it had been deserted when the fight began before the Daemon was on her. She tried to focus, to fight it off, but she couldn't, perverted images were sent flowing into her mind in a never ending barrage. Most featured her in some way, she cried out for them to stop, but they didn't. The Daemon heaved her into the air and tossed her Grapearl again, as if it were but a doll.

_____________________________________________________________________

_" Lord Genome! They can't win this... they need my help."  
_

_" No, Kamina. We must repair this Spiral Field, is anything else trying to make it past you onto the Earth?"_

_" Yes, but none of them have the guts to take me on! You have the time you need, but you have to use it. Fix the field now!"_

Genome didn't notice that the glowing form of the Spiral matrix had vanished, he didn't have time, he was bending reality just to keep the Spiral field in check. Anywhere else, he couldn't have done it, but the Warp was like a play-ground to one such as him. However, it was still a challenge. A challenge that if he did not win, then humanity would be doomed.

__________________________________________________________

The boy was digging fast now, something was up ahead! He could feel it, energy pulsed through him as he neared it, he didn't notice it but his drill wasn't the only thing removing dark now, the tunnel was growing, widening. Then, he came upon his target at last. It seemed so many years had he been searching for this, but he knew with an amazing sense of purpose that this was _it, _this was what he had been searching for.

It looked like a face, out of stone, a name sprang to his lips, but he knew not from where it had come, " Lagann..."

He reached for it like a man might reach for an old friend... but was thrown bodily against the wall with a thud! Pain flashed through him while he picked himself up and looked again. Now he saw that there was one last barrier between Lagann and himself. A strange, star, formed of glowing red energy, even being near it was enough that he felt scared witless, he knew without checking that it matched the one branded on his forehead. The star began to glow, brighter and brighter, a figure stepped out of the eye-melting glare. Clad in power-armour, the Astartes giant towered over the young boy.

It levelled a loaded Bolter at his face.

_________________________________________________________________

Gimmy shrieked in anguish, more images flashing before her mind, all of her doing the most disgusting things possible, she couldn't look away, and her Grapearl was being beaten to a pulp, the left arm hung limp and useless. The Daemon grinned down at her, to it, this was the greatest pleasure it had partaken of since its arrival. It decided that it would not kill her just yet, that it would dig her out of the ruined body of the mech, then, it would give her the Daemoness that would surely follow soon in its wake. Her agony would be sweet and prolonged. But it was time to finish this fight, and then to kill its target.

___________________________________________________________________

The bolter barked death, Simon threw himself backwards but he knew it wasn't enough, he was therefore quite surprised to find himself still alive several seconds later when he opened his eyes.

A figure was standing between him and the Astartes. She was beautiful, like an angel. A black body-suit, white hair cascading down her back as she held her hand up to the attacker, like a guardian angel she stood between him and death. He knew her, but her name was hard, so hard to say. He had thought never to see her again, but this... this was impossible, wasn't it?

" N-Nia..."

She turned to him and smiled, as if they had only been separated for an afternoon! " Simon."

The boy's mind rang, and he turned away from her, the last piece of the puzzle falling into place with a final click, " Yes, I'm Simon!"

The boy turned away, the man turned back. The fully grown Simon, wearing his sunglasses and cape smiled thankfully at Nia. " You came for me."

" Of course, you saved me from the Anti-Spirals I had to return the favour."

Suddenly, a dark beam of light lanced from her hand, striking the Astartes, shattering him into a million pieces.

" Now go, Simon. Speak of this to no one. I mean_ no one."_

" Nia..." He wanted to embrace her, to thank her, but what he said was on pure instinct without any thought, " I thought you were dead."

Her smile wilted, her sad face seemed to glow to Simon, " I am. Not like the others, truly dead."

" Then what are you doing here?" Asked Simon, walking towards his wife.

" I am but a memory, a last guardian, Simon. I am here, because you have always carried me with you."

She pointed to the star, " But I can go no farther than this, break through the last barrier, Simon, your friends need you more than ever. Remember that I will _always _be with you in here." She gestured at his heart, " Like your bro.

" I...I.. Thank you, Nia." Said Simon, not wanting to leave. But he knew that he couldn't stay.

" The taint will try to prevent you from leaving." She continued, " if you reach the surface you will have won free of its control, but if you let yourself be bound and controlled, then not even I can save you."

He nodded, " Than you, Nia. I'll always remember you..."

She smiled, " And I you. Now before you leave, one last gift."

She tossed him a small item, he looked at it closely, " What is it?"

" Its the Spiral Matrix, it was created by my father, the proto-type is from the first Spiral War but you have the finished version. I don't have the time to explain what it will do, but trust me when I say you'll need it."

" Thank you. Now I have to go."

She nodded and silently watched him leave. As Simon approached the star, it began to burn brighter again but he wasn't scared now. He held the Spiral Matrix, a token given to him by his love. He could feel it, it was alive with power, crackling, living power. In his other hand, the Core-Drill appeared in a flash of green. he pushed it up against the Chaotic barrier, funnelling his energy into it.

" For my bro." He said at last, the faces of all his friends flashing before his mind, " For everyone who needs me, I... I will not allow myself to let them down."

He turned it, there was a searing blast of green light and the barrier shattered, Lagann lay before him now, he turned to see Nia one more time, his chest was heavy with things unsaid, but he couldn't afford to wait. He quickly took up his position in the small mech. Inserting the Core-Drill, he felt the power rush through him.

Lagann activated, and leapt into the air, almost at once, tendrils of dark energy sought to hold him, but he slipped away from them, moving as quickly as he could. he danced, left, right, down, up, he couldn't let them catch him, not after so much had happened! _ Bro, Kittan, everyone who died fighting the Anti-Spirals. Everyone who fought for a better future! I wont let your deaths be in vain! I wont let the Dai-Gurren Brigade die! _ Spiral Power pulsed outwards from him and Lagann was consumed, Gurren Lagann launched out of the storm of green, drills slicing and cutting even as he rose. A massive tendril loomed out of nowhere and smashed into him, he fell and the others entrapped the limbs of the mech.

" No! I can't let this happen!"

There was another flash of green light, a thousand drills pierced his surrounding, and the tendrils fell back into shadows. he rocketed upwards, gaining speed as he went, there! Another barrier, the last barrier, he knew.

He grinned now, ", Giga-Drill Breaker!"

There was a twisting, writhing mass of energy as Warp fought Spiral.

______________________________________________________________________

10 Minutes Later:

Gimmy screamed again and again as the images replayed, the emotional impact of each event being increased by the Daemon. She experienced every minute of it, the screeching sounds of steel breaking echoed but she couldn't hear them anymore. The Keeper was intent on digging her out of the Grapearl, its fingers clawed through armour and circuits.

" Soon." it growled to her, " You will know pain and excitement and lust and all the million other emotions I have shown, soon you will feel everything I revealed to you!"

A hand clamped down on it's shoulder and it was hurled away from the downed Grapearl. it smashed into the ground hard, digging itself out, it saw a red mech standing over it, looking angry.

" Don't count on it." Hissed Simon angrily.


	5. I Will Defend the Souls of the Damned!

AN: Sorry guys, I got the name of the twins mixed up in the last chapter -- Darry is the girl and Gimmy is the boy --- I have corrected this error in the SB version, but due to my own laziness the FFnet version wont be corrected until I get around to overhauling the entire fic.

* * *

The dessicated remains of the city section belched thick smoke into the bloody sky, piles of rubble littered the ground, mixed in with them like some unholy mortar, bodies. Most were already dead, a few still moved weakly though they were just as far gone thanks to the influence of the Prince of Pleasure. Thick plumes of acid smoke rose from the ruined buildings that had been destroyed during the battle.

The Greater Daemon of Slaanesh slowly picked itself up, wounds closing even as it reached its full height. The glorious pleasure of pain filled its being even as it drew itself towards its new enemy. Gurren Lagann hadn't turned to face it, to any normal being the expressionless back of the mech would have been intimidating, but the Keeper of Secrets could feel the smouldering ember of anger contained within the mind of the attacker, knew that with a few choice words it would be able to fan it into a mighty inferno. A burning hellstorm of hatred from a being this powerful would be a worthy tribute to its master, still, there were other emotions besides anger and one that the Keeper itself was feeling at the minute was curiosity.

" You," it said, its abnormally long tongue slurring the words until they were nearly unrecognisable. " You're the one who killed the Khornite brute. My congratulations."

Inside the cockpit of Gurren Lagann, Simon sat alone. The spiral shaped graph was full and he could feel power that was Gurren Lagann in his hands. He ignored the Daemon, looking down at the broken form of the Grapearl below him. It was a sorry sight, beaten and almost destroyed, it was clear that the Daemon had only let it live so long because it was amusing.

" Are you still alive in there?" He asked the pilot. The com system crackled.

" Simon! I saw so many things, so many things...."

" Darry?" He asked. Upon closer examination, it was her custom Grapearl, it had been damaged so heavily he hadn't recognised it at first. A small part of him recoiled at a power capable of doing that to a top of the line Grapearl. A bigger part of him wanted to pry open the corpse-machine and retrieve Darry before she was hurt any farther. Most of him, however, was consumed by an overriding desire to destroy the abomination that had caused this.

" I don't wanna see it again. Don't wanna..."

" Relax," Said Simon, cursing himself for not being able to say something better, " I'll take care of it, just sit tight."

As if Gurren Lagann shared his anger, it turned slowly. Like some ancient guardian of a forgotten civilization; like a forgotten deity returned to aid its people, in fact, very much like the wrath of humanity made manifest, it turned to face the Greater Daemon.

" What did you do to her?" Simon demanded, his voice harsh, demanding, broking no lies.

The Keeper had never had any intention of lying. Why would it? Now, there stood before it, the one who they had all seen destroy the Bloodthirster, the one who fought off the Chaos Marines, the one who's power threatened to grow without limit. Why would it lie, when the truth was oh so much sweeter? Why would it utter a lie when the truth was something that could be used to spur on the anger that the pilot was barely holding in check? To the Keeper of secrets, all emotions were but playthings or food. To be toyed with, or devoured. Simon represented a genuine feast, such a powerful soul. Virtually _burning _with emotions! It radiated off him like a strange psychic rainbow, stronger than any human the Keeper had ever fought before. It barraged the Greater Daemon with a spectrum of tantalizing titbits, this one, this Simon, would become a true sacrifice to the Prince of Pleasure, a masterful feast, a never before tasted bounty. His soul, his proud soul would be broken over the centuries, his misery and grief reverberating throughout the Warp. The Keeper of Secrets felt its skin tingling just thinking about it. And what a tribute to its master, Slaanesh! To bring down such a fine prey. It would be rewarded handsomely, but to feel the anger, the rage, and eventually, the defeat and death of the pilot, the Keeper would have done it for free.

" I opened her mind, human." The Keeper said, its tongue again impeding the proper formation of the words, to a human ear, the Keeper sounded frighteningly alien. " I ripped away the veils that humanity likes to create, I destroyed all her mental blocks and barriers, I showed her, what humanity is, in the deepest core of its being. I showed her _lust._ The same that I will now do to you, Simon."

Simon had to repress the urge to shiver. Hearing his name pronounced from that toothed maw, the tongue lolling, the sounds twisted but recognisable. It was enough to make the hair on anyone's back stand on end. Simon was a brave person, he had not been born brave, but he had acquired it through exposure to danger. Again and again, he had fought and won, gradually, bravery was a trait he had acquired. Still, even he could not help but feel a sense of terror, looking into the demonic visage of the creature that appeared to have come straight from the fiery domain of Hell itself. He quashed it instantly, looking down at the Grapearl. It looked like it had been ripped apart by wild animals.

" Don't let him get you, Simon. You're not that weak," came Viral's voice from the Gurren section of the body, " its trying to make us attack early and probably cause us to make a mistake. Don't fall for it."

" I wont," Simon said. His eyes swept the barren ruins that had once been a populated city section. " Lets finish this quickly, we can't allow any more people to come to harm." Still, he could not help but see the twisted bodies, the pools of blood, all the people who he had been too late to save. He thought. _How many men and women had this thing killed? How many lives has it taken since it arrived? Too many, far too many. _His hands tightened on the controls, his heart started to pound, it was as if Spiral itself shared his revulsion, as if the very energy which he had relied upon all his life now was closer to him than ever before.

" Simon, come in!" A new voice, clipped, controlled, Simon would have known it anywhere.

" Rossiu, I'm here."

" Good, I was afraid we wouldn't be able to connect. Simon, all the sensors, all the wires and cameras in that section were destroyed -- we don't know how, Leeron thinks it might have been some form of energy release. What happened to the Grapearls assigned to defend it?"

Simon couldn't help but keep the sharp edge from his voice, even as fires danced in his eyes, " Gone, all but Darry. Even she's been very banged up, she may need medical help."

" All right," Rossiu said, the tone of his voice indicating that he had made a decision, " Simon, you have permission to fight that thing, try to keep it alive if you can. We need to know more about it. I've called back all the Grapearls headed for that sector, they would just get in your way."

" Thanks for the permission," said Simon, though they both knew he would have fought the Daemon permission or no. Without another word, he turned his attention back to the oncoming fight, back to the horror that awaited him.

" You think you can just come to Earth and kill people like that?" He demanded, anger adding volumes to his voice, " think you can just destroy this city, the city we worked so hard to build? Well listen up! 'cus I'm only going to say this once. Twisted abomination you may be, monster, demon, mutant beastman. You could be the Spiral Nemesis for all that I care. You wont set a foot past me! This city, these people, the entire planet, is under my protection, got it?"

The Daemon made a hideous wet cackle that might have been its version of chuckling, " And who are you, Simon, to deny the will of the Prince of Pleasure?"

Simon raised his fist, reaching up to the sky, Gurren Lagann mirrored the movement, " the power to reach beyond all limits, the strength to do the impossible. That's what gives us our purpose, that's what makes us who we are. I am Simon, Simon the Digger. You've clearly heard of me, but just as obviously, you've not heard enough! Who the hell are we to deny you? We're the Dai-Gurren Brigade, and as long as we stand tall, Earth will never surrender to you!"

The Greater Daemon looked on with mild amusement as Simon made his speech, " fancy words, but if you think they are all you need you are sorely mistaken, Simon. Here, I will show you the true power of the Prince of Pleasure!"

Almost as if by some unseen signal, the two giant foes leapt at one another. The ground under the metal feet of Gurren Lagann crumbled away, its weight too much for it to take, but by then the mech was already speeding at the enemy. At the same time, the writhing muscles in the legs of the Keeper bunched, playing across its skin as it launched itself into the air, claw jabbing for the neck of the rapidly approaching Gurren Lagann. But the metal hand of the behemoth closed around the claw before it could snap shut, Simon's drove the other fist upwards, planting it firmly in the beast's face, there was a sickening _crack _and a flood of blood, the Daemon's eyes were wild as Gurren Lagann spun in the air, propelling itself over the Greater Daemon with a stunning display of agility, and kicked the Daemon in the back with enough force to shatter steel. It ploughed a trench through the ground as it tumbled. Somewhere along the way, its arm snapped and its blood coated the ground.

Rising , it exalted in the pain as the wounds closed, reaching out with its mind, it propelled tendrils of thoughts towards Simon. Like the tentacles of some Japanese monster, it gently caressed Simon's mind before stabbing down with enough force to blow aside his best defences. Simon might have confounded a Chaos Marine, but a Keeper of Secrets was far higher up the food chain.

* * *

Simon baulked suddenly, paling as the most obscene images flashed before his mind's eye. He froze, hands still gripping the controls tightly, forced to feel every sensation as if it were his own.

" Simon," Viral called, " What's wrong? Why aren't we moving?" He received no answer.

* * *

The Keeper of Secrets laughed, feeling his touch freeze Simon where he stood. There was a second mind there as well, piloting the body section. Almost as an afterthought, the Daemon lashed out at it as well. Now sure that it was in no danger, it stalked towards the immobilized Gurren Lagann. The mech had frozen just as if it were about to leap into the air, the Daemon chuckled again.

" Strong spirited, you may be, Simon, unnaturally tough in body and mind. But you are still, when you get right down to it, human. Feeble, easily mislead. You're prey, Simon. Plain and simple.

It threw back its head and laughed -- and evil, hacking sound, more like the death of a donkey than a noise of amusement. As the Daemon stole forwards, more images flashed through his head, Simon would have cried out, but he could not. He was trapped, trapped within his own mind and unable to look away. Pictures flashed past, each of them as brief as a heartbeat, but he felt everything they showed -- and they showed some horrible things, sweat broke out across his body, his heart-rate increased. He felt all of it, the pain, the pleasure, the lust, the hate, all of it poured across his being like an acidic bath, trying to soak away what he was. Simon fought back, throwing up barriers, memories, defences and fortifications. The greatest generals of all the universe could not have laid a better defence than did Simon.

It wasn't enough, the Daemon simply brushed past the feeble writhing of a mortal man. The Keeper reached farther into his mind, drudging up more figures, using them against the struggling Simon. Yoko lay tied down before him, he stood in a dark ally with a knife, the sun glinted off his ganmen as he raised the fist to smash in the face of Kamina. The Daemon dug deeper, delighting in the emotional pain it was inflicting, now, it found a memory! It could easily see that it was bitter-sweet, it was a memory of love, a memory of better times. From this, the Keeper would derive much pleasure in twisting to suit its own goals.

Simon uttered a half-hearted cry as the scene around him changed, he fought back, summoning all his strength, all his determination, all his will. It... wasn't.... _enough. _

_Rain battered against the windows of the large building as Simon rushed through the drive, his thin suit was soaked through and the harsh wind froze him to the bone. Unlocking and pushing aside the heavy door, he felt a sudden gust of heat._

_Closing the door behind him, Simon paused in the hall for a second, luxuriating in the warmth even as he wondered who had gotten here, and how they were inside. Moving slowly, he saw that the light in the kitchen was on, the sounds of cooking could be heard even from where he stood. Who would be cooking in his own house?_

Brief flashes of strength pulsed into him as his mind tried to break the deadlock, it was no use.

_Pushing open the door, the breath in his chest caught for a second. Someone had turned the lights on the kitchen up to full, and as Nia turned to him, it seemed to surround her, to flow from her. She looked beautiful._

_" Nia! I didn't expect to see you here."_

_She smiled at him, " I didn't really have much to do," her face screwed up into a sudden worried impression, " you're not angry are you?"_

_" What? of course not!" Spluttered Simon, reassuringly as he could. " I'm just happy to see you."_

Simon didn't know how, but he could feel the control of the Daemon running through the vision, he knew what was going to happen, the monster was going to change what had happened, change it so as to cause Simon pain.

_" I'm glad you're not angry." Spouted Nia suddenly happy again, " I've put on something to eat, its a new recipe you'll love."_

The image faded, now he could feel the Daemon going through every facet of his life, every flaw, every failure, everything he had never been able to do, he struggled to repel it, but to his horror it was stronger than anything he had ever felt before. Now, he saw it reaching for his childhood.. his parents, his bro- Kamina -- his time in the early years of the Dai-Gurren Brigade. He saw again, the sacrifice of all the people who had died fighting the Anti-Spirals, all those deaths for nothing... He had failed... Now, the Daemon was going into the later years, between the fall of Lord Genome and the Anti-Spirals, checking up on the lives of Simon and his friends, of Simon and Nia...

_No, that's private. _It was a silly thought, a stupid one, to thing that a Daemon would care for privacy was insane, but maybe it was shock, or amusement or whatever, but he suddenly felt as if the pressure were lifted, even if only for a split second. A second was enough, a sudden gust of wind buffeted his body and he found that he was standing alone in the darkness, the Daemon was gone but so was everything else.

" Where am I?" He asked, seeing no one. This place was cold, dark and above all, empty.

He looked down, he held two objects in his hand, in his right, the Core-Drill, in his left, the Spiral Matrix. Knowledge suddenly filled him, flowing from some unknown source. He knew what had to be done, slowly, he fitted the Matrix over the Core-Drill. It fit perfectly, he knew it would. Abruptly, the darkness around him was overcome by shining light, the twin objects forged by the Spirals combining in much the same way as Gurren and Lagann. The searing green light didn't harm him, it comforted him. It fed him power.

He felt his body around him again, and beyond that, the world he had sworn to protect. Before him stood the Keeper of Secrets, blinking fuzzily, still in shock that its control had been broken by a mere human. Emotions returned to Simon in a single wild rush.

" -Simon!" Cried Viral, " What the hell just happened?"

" I'm really not sure." Simon confessed, " But I think that this is our chance."

" Right," said Viral, suddenly all business.

Gurren Lagann leapt from its position, slamming a fist into the chest of its adversary, even as a drill impaled the Daemon's heart and looped back to slice through the gut, more blood fell upon the already soaked streets. The Daemon doubled over in pain, Simon raised his fist and brought it down upon the thing's neck. There was ghastly crack, but the Daemon held on, writhing against the hold.

The Keeper moaned, beautiful pain filling every fibre of its being, it reached out, claw ready to close around the neck of the mech, grinning lustily even as it prepared to destroy Simon once and for all. His soul.... his brilliant soul would feed the Dark God and the Keeper of Secrets would be richly rewarded.

Something struck it as unusual then. In its span of existence, the Secret Keeper had been wounded many times than it could remember. Slashed by the Adeptus Mechanicus, shot by the Astartes, pummelled under the Imperial Guard's Artillery, once it had even ambushed an Eldar Craftworld along with countless other Daemons. That had been a fine day, but the point was that the Keeper had experienced thousands of cuts and wounds, the best that the weapons of the Imperium could muster. It had been bled dry on Kronus during the war, had fought on Delta VII and even taken on a Bloodthirster at Eleium. The Keeper knew how injuries were supposed to feel. It knew it as well as a human might the body of a lover. The wounds felt wrong. Little blood was oozing past the plug formed by the body of the drill and it was more painful than it should have been. True, pain was a form of worship for Slaanesh, but the Keeper still didn't think all was right. Yet, even with that nagging feeling, it saw victory in its grasp, tasted the sweet scent in the air.

" You have failed." It growled, looking into the metallic face of Gurren Lagann, " I'll feed your soul to the Prince of Pleasure."

" M-my soul?" Gasped Simon, inside the mech, hands loosening on the controls, this was something he knew he had to hear. " What do you mean, my soul?"

The Daemon laughed again, the ugly sound was offensive to Simon's ears and he could even feel a headache coming on.

" You really don't know? Ha ha! Boy, didn't you ever wonder at the power that you have seen since your arrival in this most blessed of places? This is the Warp, human. You've felt it, I know you have!"

Simon found himself nodding, he _had_ felt it. The twisted power that surrounded the planet like a predator, the gut-wrenching feeling of evil malevolence that surrounded them always. It was impossible to ignore, like an itch, it kept coming back.

" The Dark Gods rule here, mortal. You're strong, but not that strong. You fool, your world has been drawn into the Warp, there is no survival here! Only death, death and whatever torments the Gods select for your sou."

" You take souls?" Demanded Simon, aghast at the very thought, " Not only do you kill people, you take their souls as well?"

The Keeper felt Simon's wave of emotions, revulsion mixed with anger. It tasted good, it could barely wait to feel his despair when he realized the true extent of Chaos!

" Of course. The sweet emotions would be totally wasted if we didn't! The souls would be allowed to wither away in the Warp. Now they serve a purpose, now in their agony, their fear, they feed us."

" You eat them?" Asked Simon faintly.

" Devour them totally is more apt. The human soul is the most flavourful of meals. They scream, and struggle, and then they slowly tire, even as they feel their essence, their very being slipping away from them.

Simon couldn't believe what he was hearing, couldn't believe that any creature could be so... so evil. Never had he encountered anything like this before. The Anti-Spirals had, in their own twisted way, the best interests of the universe at heart, they had not been truly evil, the beastmen hadn't ether. It was they way they had been created by Lord Genome, Nowadays, beastmen and humans lived together in perfect peace. But this.... this was too much. His hands started to shake, not from fear or anger, but from an all consuming rage that bellowed up from his very soul. _How dare they do that to anyone? _

" You monsters," snarled Simon, " has no one stood up to you? Does no one in this place have the power to fight your evil kind?"

Another round of laughter, " The false Imperium learned long ago that Chaos cannot be defeated! Nor can it be contained, it can only be stalled. This is a lesson that their Emperor learned far too late. HA! Emperor of Man, now he is but a corpse upon a golden thrown. Even as his soul struggles to maintain mankind."

A horrible thought struck Simon," These people you killed here -- their souls --"

" All gone to the Prince of Pleasure, to be tormented or devoured. You humans have only those uses, Simon and now, your own soul will join them!"

The Daenon launched upwards, spearing its claw through the weak armour of the mech even as the other snapped its neck, its tail swept up and impaled the head before it could fall to the ground, killing Simon instantly.

Or at least, that's what it meant to happen. What actually happened was that it was yanked back by the drill still impaled in its own guts. Fresh pain coursed through it and in a rush, realization hit it that Gurren Lagann held the advantage. The drill was _inside _it, the drill that was able to grow, and move and split.

" There is no word for what you are." Said Simon, his hands closing around the controls. So many people, worse than dead now... _Bro would never have let it happen. _" I...I can't believe there's a such thing in the multiverse.. Your master, the Prince of Pleasure. Tell him... tell him that he wont keep the souls of those people."

Even the Greater Daemon could not help but gape at the words Simon was saying, no one had ever spoke like this before " You think your God-Emperor of Terra can possibly steal back the souls?"

" No." Simon's voice was brittle, but his eyes filled with raging fire, " No. That is something I trust no one else to do... I will reclaim those souls you took, I will fight your master, and the entire damn Warp if I have to! Now, tell your master this: I am Simon, and I am the defender of mankind!"

Suddenly pain filled the Keeper, not the pain it was used to, not the joyful delight in the Prince of Pleasures, this was actually pain as a mortal would feel it -- bad pain. It screamed for the first time in its life, the pain grew stronger and stronger. Its very essence was challenged, even as the drill burst from its flesh, glowing green.

A faint Spiral pattern was glowing in Simon's eyes, " You dare to take the souls of good people, you torment them, torture them! Well no more, this all ends now, hear me?"

The Daemon let out a moan and vanished, dissolving away into nothing as the very Warp energy that made up its form was neutralized by the sudden influx of Spiral. Ironically, the barrier that Kamina and Lord Genome had now restored prevented the Daemon from returning to the Warp -- it was the first time that a Greater Daemon had been killed, not delayed, not merely making it lose a body. _killed. _

And then, Gurren Lagann stood alone, Simon sat in Lagann, breathing heavily, feeling his heart-rate start to slow.

Rossiu made contact again, " Simon, is it dead?"

" Yes," he said simply, " I couldn't capture it intact.

" Viral," he said, " Viral I don't know what just happened but its important."

The beastman replied, " I agree -- Simon, was it telling the truth?"

" I think it was, though I wish it wasn't."

" What are we going to do now, Simon?"

That was the question, wasn't it. Simon had now committed himself to a course, he would take back the souls of all the people killed here today, he would do it too, he'd do it if he damn well had to fight every one of those monsters in existence. Still, how would he go about this course of action? He knew what his bro would do; Kamina would just set out, trusting to luck and Spiral to bring him to the right place. Simon wouldn't do that, he had his own style. He needed information, needed to know what these things were and how to fight them. Luckily, he now knew the name of a place, now he knew someone who had fought these monsters. From them, he would learn all he had too.

" Viral, I'm going to go off-planet in a few days, I may not be back for a while. Are you in?"

" What do you think, Simon? Where are we going first?"

" A planet I think. I heard the monster mention it during the fight. Someone lives there who should be able to help us."

" What's it called?"

" Terra."

* * *

Rossiu strode through darkened corridors and past blackened windows. He was alone, for a change, and his speed was such that he might as well have been running. His foot-steps echoed through the building even as he headed towards his destination.

Reaching it, he saw the second of the projects. Unlike the first one, the transports, these were not in the public eye. They were the opposite. The transports were well known, kept in a massive hanger and the media was allowed free access. These, these were a secret, kept in a small darkened building at the edge of the city, no one knew about them save for Rossiu, Leeron and his specially chosen team.

Leeron met him on the way in, in no mood for games, Rossiu demanded, " Any results?"

" The same as usual, they display some signs of Spiral but nothing greater than a few sparks."

Rossiu cursed to himself even as the entered the large lab which housed the projects. These were small, kept in secluded corners of the room. Rossiu couldn't help but shiver as he looked at them.

" Any work on phase two?"

"Some, we based the general form on Gurren since it syncs so well with the original, we've tried to get them to combine but its real use, without a key they are mostly useless."

" Mostly?"

Leeron nodded, looking thoughtful, " Yes, there have been power-outputs dwarfing that of any we got out of them. We think it corresponds to Simon's mood."

" He has control of them?"

" No, its just that he is the most powerful Spiral around, he's like a beacon to them. They react to his moods -- intense anger particularly."

" Just as we thought then, have you found pilots?"

"Gimmy and Darry both have what it takes but their energy level is untested. No one else seems to have the talent for it."

" So we can theoretically get two of them to activate?"

" Theoretically? Yes, if we had a charge of the right power, and a body of the right specification as well as a pilot of the right mindset and a key of the right manufacture then we could get them to start."

" Is there nothing that we can do?"

" Well... there is one thing... this one over here is different than the others." Leeron pointed at a darkened corner, the object there seemed to brood, it was broken and fractures ran the length of it. Yet it was totally different from all the others.

" That one we at least have the key for. If we had the right pilot then we could probably repair its former body as well."

Rossiu felt a surge of hope and admiration for Leeron, " So we can do it?"

" Given time, money and equipment, yes I believe we can do it."

" Good now let us take this conversation somewhere else, this place does not sit well with me."

Leeron nodded. Rossiu cast one last look at the objects as he turned to leave, the blank eyes of the Lagann type genman that had been recovered from the former Death Spiral Field. Then, his eyes settled upon the broken one, the one they pinned their hopes upon should Simon ever fall in battle.

It had been taken from Earth, it still bore the wounds of its last battle with Gurren Lagann, it had been torn from the ruined husk of a form that had once gone by the name of ''Lazengann''.

* * *

Onto the review replies!

OK guys, I've decided to do the replies in the fic itself, this way if you review me you get your name up on FFNet, neat huh? Now hit the review button!

From last chapter:

spidtyfan:

Ha! the chaos gods wont know what hit em!! nice story wish you update faster...

Yeah, I tend to update quite slowly, sorry 'bout that but you know, I only get two nights a week to do fanfics ( or use a computer at all, really.)

Brain Boru:

Very Nice Chapter pal. Keep up the work and are the Astronomicon and the Navigators of the Imperium and the eldar going to notice this little green bubble of Normal in the Chaos realms

Well, the Imperium is about to get a very rude awakaning to the fact that they ain't been so nice these past few million years. As to the Eldar, well if they knew how would you know? Maybe they already do notice 'em.... maybe they don't. You'll have to read more to find out!

Also, special thanks to

Cobra-100

cpj1227

Dapster

dwennon

Isak922

X-Over

for putting this fic on their story alert list, thanks guys!


	6. First Steps to Terra

The massive crowd that had gathered to see off the mighty Dai-Gurren Brigade lined the city. They filled the streets, their voices echoing and mixing together into a solid wall of sound. They thronged the buildings, leaning out from balconies. The entire city-centre had been cut off to traffic and several proud, golden custom Grapearls stood around the imposing figure of Gurren Lagann itself. Behind it, the giant screen mounted on the buildings t mirrored the image for all to see. Far above, where the eyes of the crowd could not observe, the Arc-Gurren orbited the world gently, ready to take her passengers to their destination. A well trained skeleton crew had already been assembled and various techs scuttled down the hallways in a frenzy of preparation before the flight proper. This would be the longest trip the Arc-Gurren had taken in living memory, even Simon did not know exactly where this ''Terra'' was. Only that the name itself sounded strange in his mind, as if he had heard it before.

Back on Earth, the delegation stood to attention. The warm sun that shone down them almost made them forget about the threat that surrounded them. The rays of heat seemed to have been perfectally balanced for maximum comfort. Standing stiffly amongst his fellows, Viral was wearing his best uniform. Yoko stood with her rifle slung across her back, her hair combed and made proper for the see-off. Simon had chosen to wear his trademark glasses. His chest was bare and the Core-Drill hung freely around his neck. There was, one difference from his usual attire, however. The Spiral Matrix was still entwined around the Core-Drill like an intricate circuit. Simon had found himself unable to remove it, he just couldn't bring himself to. It was strange, to think that Nia could possibly have helped him. Yet this thing was solid, undeniable proof of that. She had given it to him, in his dream and when he woke, he held it in his hands. It was far more than just an object to Simon, it was a connection. A magical link with Nia. He would not let it out of his sight, because it represented... well he wasn't totally sure what it represented but he did know it was important. Simon had survived the Spiral War by listening to his feelings and now was not the time to break the habit.

Rossiu approached them across the pathed ground of the city centre. The slight wind tussled his hair and his footstepes were uniform. He was dressed in a fine suit, but Simon thought he was starting to look old. The strain of his position was really getting to him, his hair was streaked with grey and Simon realized with a jolt of humour that he looked very like the chief of his old village. The one Bro had really hated. It was enough to bring a smile to his face despite the heavy weight of responsability pressing upon his soul. Travelling behind Rossiu were Gimmy and Darry. Both were dressed in modified pilot suits. Far too showy to be of any use in actually combat. Their Grapearls had been trashed by the monster, so Simon doubted they would be flying for a while. Darry was pale and shaky, he saw with a touch of concern. She hadn't told anyone what she had been through during the last fight, but if it was anything like what the Daemon had tried to put Simon through, it could not have been fun. But Simon had faith in her, she could handle it.

The two groups met amidst the cheering populace, Simon would much rather have liked to have left quietly but Rossiu had shot that idea down. _" Its bad enough you're leaving," he had said firmly, " But if you just disappeared overnight with no clue to where you were going? The people would riot Simon! You're the hero of the revolution, they look to you for support, protection. You saved Earth twice -- from the beastmen and the Anti-Spirals. Don't just run out on them, Simon." _

Simon and Rossiu shook hands, an outward sign of friendship but the grip was loose and Rossiu's eyes were cold. Simon could understand why. There had been a long and barely civil argument over his chosen course of action last night. Ending with Rossiu threatening to have Simon arrested again, and Simon daring him to try -- in his own words _" Those people are being tortured because they died in a fight they had no stake in. Listen, forehead boy, I wont just sit back and let that happen."_

_" Simon, did you think that maybe it was all a lie told to get under your skin?"_

_" Yes, and I can't risk it being true. I can't."_

_" What if more attackers arrive when you're away?"_

_" I'm not as stupid as you seem to think, Rossiu. I know you have secret programs in place to build the next generation of Grapearls. Specifically, the Lazengann project."_

_" So you know?" Rossiu had said, seeming to deflate as all his anger vanished, " Leeron told you, didn't he?"_

_" No Leeron didn't betray you. I have my own sources is all. I know you have a Core-Drill and a ruined, but functional Lagann type mech. You also have Gimmy and Darry. Trust me when I say this Rossiu, those two are more powerful than they appear. Don't believe in me, believe in them."_

Now, the fate of Earth would rest on the twins' shoulders even as Simon and co journeyed far and wide. He could see Rossiu was still not happy about it, but he had accepted it at least. Truth be told, Simon himself had the desire to stay and fight for Earth. It was something installed in him by his bro. _ A man does not run, he turns and faces his attacker. _ Gimmy and Darry saluted as Rossiu and Simon broke the handshake. Gimmy looked nervous, they were putting a lot of responsability in his hands. He hoped he wouldn't screw it up.

As one, the Dai-Gurren Brigade turned to enter Gurren Lagann via the spider's web of scaffolding that had been set up for this purpose. Yoko and Viral squeezed into the Gurren, their muffled words of protest lost in the chanting of the crowd. Simon himself took a minute once he reached the top of the scaffolding to look over the city, Kamina City. A place he'd built over the ruins of Lord Genom's capital, a place he that commemorated his bro, a place that housed so many living beings. Beastmen, humans, the lines were even starting to blur. He smiled, as the sun cast the city in a golden light. Few things had seemed to beautiful to Simon. Not just because of the city, but because of what the city was. Not bricks, metal, concrete. No, that's what the city was made of. What the city _was _was... well everything. Hope, love, hate, despair, determination. So many souls living together, working together. Here was the heart of Spiral Power. The power of evolution, always growing, always changing, it was the ability to work miracle and every being there -- be it human or even Beastman -- could feel it in the very core of their existence. This city was humanity's true birthplace on Earth. Where they had finally fought their way free of the underground and claimed the planet that was rightfully theirs. Now, these devils, Daemons, Dark Gods, they had the nerve to threaten the planet Simon had worked so hard to rebuild? He knew without a shadow of a doubt then, that even if he were to die, if the Arc-Gurren were to explode. The Spiral race would continue. Gimmy and Darry were only the first of the new generation. More and more children were being born who had an increased affinity for Spiral Energy. The entire species was changing to better control the green power.

He smiled at the crowd below and waved, his bro, Kamina, would have made some grand speech about freeing the lost souls and kicking the ass of these Daemons. Simon did not, it was not his way. But he swore to himself that if it came to that, he _would _make Kamina proud. Another moment, and he had entered Lagann. It was like coming home, thought Simon as he plunged the Core-Drill into its socket. No matter how many times he entered, or how long he stayed, Lagann was like his own personal pocket universe. Calm, radiating power but controlled power. Channelled power. How had they been made, back in the first Spiral War? Simon wondered. What kind of being could mass-produce Laganns? How could they possibly have lost against the Anti-Spirals? That bit, Simon was forced to admit, was a bit clearer. Lord Genome had betrayed the Spirals, stealing away their flagship and ending the organised resistance on Earth.

Power rushed through the controls, the graph filling to the brim with green energy, Simon felt the sparks of power through the connection. He grinned despite himself. This was where he belonged, not in a government he had no clue how to run. This was where he was at his best.

" How're we doing?" He asked via the inter-Lagann com system.

Viral's voice was controlled when he answered, but Simon detected a hint of discomfort. His grin widened.

" All systems are go," Viral reported, " The Arc-Gurren is above us now, so we shouldn't have to do much more than fly straight up."

" I'm fine too, commented Yoko simply from her own side of Gurren's cockpit.

In here, the outside was muted, the cheering of the crowd couldn't reach them. Simon made a last adjustment and with a single bound, Gurren Lagann reached for the sky, thrusters kicked in once it was high enough above the city and with a single motion, Gurren Lagann was away.

Simon easily made corrections for the wind, the thrusters from the old flying type Ganmen they had assimilated during the revolution were keeping them steady for now, but they wouldn't be enough to break the atmosphere's hold on them. Redirecting Spiral energy into them, he was pressed back into his seat as the thrusters roared with new life.

Now cruising very quickly, Simon watched as the clouds fell behind them, the blue of the sky steadily darkening. The ascent was marred by the vivid strips of crimson that decorated the their view. . A marking of the traitorous space they now found themselves in. There! Just a dot now, but quickly gaining size and distinction, the Arc-Gurren. Simon saw it growing closer, faster and faster as they prepared to meet it.

" This is Simon to the Arc," He said, switching to the appropriate channel.

" Arc here, Admiral Simon, shall we teleport you on board?"

_Since when was he an admiral? _With a mental shrug he pushed the thought aside, no point in it at the minute. Far more important things needed doing.

" That would be the quickest."

Without another word, there was a flash of vivid green light and then Gurren Lagann was gone.

* * *

The emotions of Kamina City washed over them like a tide, invisible to most, to the two souls they were a wave of multi-hued Spirals. Enough energy had been released to form the basis of a body in fact. Not a sold one of course, but a mental picture they could project so that others would be able to see them.

Lord Genome watched Gurran Lagann rush through the clouds, he shook his head slowly, " I had not anticipated this would happen so soon."

Kamina was clothed in his usual attire and he seemed unsurprised by the turn of events, " That's my bro, Simon. Heading for the unknown, doing the impossible. That's the Dai-Gurren Brigade!"

" Maybe so, but if we do not extent the Spiral Shield to protect the Arc-Gurren then I cannot guarantee the safety of the ship."

" The Spiral Matrix was supposed to enable Simon's own Spiral Field to defend him against taint." Said Kamina, " You telling me you didn't make it right?"

Genome was hardly impressed by the outburst, " Oh it can -- amongst other things, the Matrix will act to protect Simon and Gurren Lagann from Chaotic influences. However, I must stress that it may not extend that protection to the crew of the Arc-Gurren. One of us must go with him and maintain a Spiral Shield."

" I'll go!" Said Kamina at once, eyes burning, " I'll always have Simon's back, even if he doesn't know it."

Lord Genome seemed to consider this. He knew that Kamina was reckless, tended not to think things through and had a habit of letting his pride run ahead of him. He also knew that Kamina had been one of the most powerful Spiral Warriors for generations and that he himself had once been very much like Kamina. Before the betrayal.

" Very well, the crew should generate enough Spiral Energy to sustain you as long as you don't overreach yourself."

Kamina nodded, " Yeah, yeah I know all this, baldy."

" Kamina, this is important. If you use up too much Spiral Power you WILL die, and die permanently. So far from Earth there will be no Spiral enregy to revive you and sustain you. You would be at the mercy of the Gods of the Warp and I assure you, they have none."

There was quiet while this sunk in, then Kamina put on his glasses, they caught the light and sparkled.

" I don't care, if Simon needs me, I'll help him. Genome don't let Rossiu down. Before this is over, both of us will be fighting a battle we may not be able to win."

* * *

The bridge of the Arc-Gurren was shrouded in shadows, pilots and techs stood stiffly to attention, their uniforms clean and crisp, their stance ready. Tiny pools of light, like stars or suns, poked through the darkness here and there. Illuminating the face of a nearby person. The crew were waiting, and from their body-language, they were quite prepared to wait forever if that was as long as it took. A massive window looking out to space dominated the front of the bridge. The neon like tendrils of Chaos reached across the visible spectrum like the sickening fingers of an unholy abomination. There was not a man there on the bridge who did not feel sick or dizzy or exhausted. Luckily for them, their innate Spiral energy was already being channelled through the Arc as fuel. It would protect them against the worst of the mental backlash. This level of corruption -- though horrible to behold, and possessing of a subtle wrongness that they all felt -- could not drive them insane. Could not blind them, kill them, or mutilate their minds. Not at this level, but were the attentions of the Great Gods, or even a Daemon of the lowest order or a Warp-sorcerer to be drawn to them, their undirected, uncontrolled Spiral power would be of no use.

Coll didn't currently know anything about the wretched riot of colours and shapes outside the main viewer, nor did he know very much about Spiral Power for that matter. Coll was a simple man and he knew what he wanted: Promotion. Back home, Coll was a mid-ranking pilot trained originally for Grapearl duty, but he later expanded his range. Coll was youngish -- around twenty with a clean-cut beard, blue eyes and a military style haircut. His uniform was, if possible, even more pristine than that of his co-workers and he trued to hold himself a little straighter, a little prouder. He had learned early in his career that he could get very far with a keen appearance. People tended to think of him as enthusiastic, if a little naive and none too bright. This suited Coll perfectly, he liked it when people underestimated him. It handed him the advantage.

Coll was always calm, Coll was always effective. But above all, Coll was always planning. Watch out for the quiet ones, the small ones, the ones that you never see coming. This was advise that many would have been better off knowing before they met Coll. Coll had worked his way through the ranks painstakingly. Years it had taken him, since he joined the government at seventeen. He was aware that his had been, a meteoric rise from a small time pilot to bridge crewman of the Arc-Gurren, a ship commanded by Simon himself. Many many people would have killed at the chance to meet Simon, never mind work alongside him. Many would have felt the thrill from just seeing the hero of the revolution against the beastmen. Many would have gladly accepted a job of lesser import and influence if it only meant he would notice them. Coll, was not one of these people. Coll had a calling in life, and that calling was power. Not for power's sake, you understand, but because Coll had learned early on that the only people you could trust were those you knew personally. Frankly, he found the entire Dai-Gurren Brigade tiresome and most of them were also probably incompetent. Oh they fought well, even Coll would give them that, but in this day and age, war was a thing of the past. He fully expected that this whole invader problem could be sorted out peacefully if only people like himself were allowed more more power. Of course, peacefully does not equal ''satisfactory''. Coll was a snake in the grass by his own admission, he could talk his way out of anything, could charm a rattle-snake. He was confidant that no matter what they found out there, he would be able to talk it over to his side. Coll did not want power for powers sake, Coll honestly believed that he could serve mankind far better were he only in a higher position of authority. He believed it with every fibre of his coiled being. To this end, his life's goal was to scale the ladders of rank, he had worked tirelessly for six years at this end -- since he was fourteen he had been preparing. Coll was actually angry that he had been sent on this mission -- but like most emotions that he felt, it was vague and muted and far away. He had been making ready for the move that would propel him into politics proper when the call came. Cynically, he suspected that he had been sent here for just that reason, the higher-ups feared him and rightfully so! This mission was exile in all but name. He would be cast out, away from the centres of power, where he could do no damage. There, he may be killed or he may be lost or at least, he would be out of the picture for a while. By the time he returned, his opportunity would have vanished and it would take more years of painful back-room deals, double crosses and hard work to create another one.

Or so they thought. The situation was a bad one, thought Coll calmly, but not beyond salvaging. Here, he was presented another opportunity. True, it was not as certain as the one he had been forced to leave behind, but it was something and he could work with it. Ah, judging here it came now.

The single pair of sliding doors at the rear of the bridge opened with a _whosh _and three figures were suddenly outlined against the light from without. They were unmistakable, every child growing up was taught about their names and deeds. Dead centre, Simon, revolutionary who had first fought the beastman. Looking splendid in his cape and glasses. Left, Yoko Littner. Founding member of the Dai-Gurren Brigade. Her rifle was -- as ever -- close to hand. Right, the beastman Viral. He was clothed in the uniform of an admiral -- his former rank in the navy before he joined this mission.

The light allowed in by the open door seemed to create a carpet of illumination between the small group and their stations at the front of the bridge, under the viewscreen. There was a hushed silence as the Gurren Brigade walked over the lighten path. Coll noted that it was the quiet of many people trying to fix this image in their heads. He would have snorted in disgust, but that would ruin his image as the promising up and coming. Instead, he tried to look as thrilled as the others actually were. Inside his head, he debated the best way to get close to each of them and what advantages they could confer upon him. Oh yes, he had been exiled from the halls of power for now, but his rise to the top was far from over.

* * *

Simon felt the eyes of the bridge crew latch onto them even as they stepped out onto the bridge itself. It was a disconcerting feeling, but he pushed it aside. These people did not know why they were being sent away from Earth. It was only naturally they would look to him for answers. Answers, he would soon have to give them. But not yet. With a nod to Yoko and Viral, they started forwards.

The tainted light of the warped space corrupted the otherwise serene beauty of the stars, though Simon was spared the negative effects of it thanks to the Spiral Matrix, he saw how it was effecting the crew of the Arc. Three chairs sat just under the viewscreen, he saw. They were reserved for the captain, the first officer and the weapons officer. These slots had been left for Viral, Yoko and himself. Without a word they took their place, Yoko's fingers dancing across the controls even before she sat down. Viral calm, peaceful. Simon remembered that he had been made an admiral not long ago. He was used to space flight and it didn't seem to bother him why they were leaving Earth. The innocent souls in danger. He gritted his teeth but forced himself to relax. Viral was probably just dealing with it in his own way.

Simon's seat dominated the bridge, it was a large red thing, towering above everything else, a bank of controls had been set into the ground before it and Simon found himself giving them a quick once-over. To his slight surprise, he understood them all. With a smirk, he realized that this was a ship he would easily be able to fly. He turned around, the crew were still standing to attention stiffly, his smirk widened, his trademark glasses glinted, " Well, what are you all standing around for? We've got a mission ahead of us."

That seemed to snap them out of whatever fame-induced slumber they had been caught in. A young woman hurried up to Simon and gave him a nervous salute, he nodded to her. She brushed the blonde hair out of her eyes and spoke, " Welcome aboard, captain. I'm Alice, I've got everything you'll need here." She handed him a clipboard.

Simon let his eyes wander over it, though he was not paying real attention. The darkened lighting was getting on his nerves, it just wasn't the right environment for this kind of ship. He decided firmly. This was a Spiral Flagship, if it was going to be dark with subdued lighting, Simon felt in some deep part of his soul, said lighting ought to be _green_.

" Arc, come in." Said a voice from the terminal before him. Simon turned to it.

" We're here, Rossiu."

There was no point in denying that it was Rossiu who was speaking to them, his friend seemed to sigh but didn't bother going any farther.

Drpping all pretences, Rossiu said, " Listen Simon, you have food stocks for about a year, you're running on Spiral Energy so you shouldn't need to refuel. You ought to be able to produce repair parts if you need them. Alice has any information you may need. Beyond that you're on your own, we can't help you if you get in trouble. Be careful."

Simon knew the unspoken meaning of Rossiu's statement. He was a kind man at heart, and though he was clearly still annoyed at Simon himself, he wanted him to take care of the people under his command.

" Don't worry on that account, I'll not get anyone killed."

" Good. I hope you have good luck on your mission, you'll need it, Simon. Control out."

Like that, their last link with Earth was severed and the Arc-Gurren was on its own. Simon turned to the crew, most of whom were looking apprehensive. He didn't blame them.

" Listen up, people!" He said, standing up again, " We're on a mission and its important -- I can't tell you what it is right now, but would I be going if it weren't? Would Viral or Yoko? So trust me when I say, if we pull this off, we'll all be going down in history."

" Is it to do with that monster that attacked the city?" Asked a young man. Immediately, a hush fell over the bridge and Simon got the impression that he had spoken out of line. To lessen the embarrassment that the man was clearly feeling, Simon let his lips curl into a smile, " Yes, it has something to do with it."

This, it seemed, steeled the crew. They had all heard of the monster's rampage, had all seen the aftermath, not a single one of them had not been touched by what had happened, not a single one of them wanted it ever to happen again. Now, they had the chance to prevent it( for why else would Simon himself be leading the mission?) And they would die before they accepted failure.

" Lets enter full power." Said Viral, his tone used to being obeyed. Instantly, the appropriate switches were thrown, the buttons pressed and the powerful overhead light winked into existence with illumination enough to banish the star-speckled darkness from the bridge. _Ah,_ thought Simon, _much better_.

The Arc-Gurren moved away from its parent world, slowly at first but gaining in speed. The tides of the Warp buffeted them but the ship seemed immune. Daemons, horrible monstrosities man was not meant to know off, clawed at the thin barrier of reality that was all that separated the crew from a grizzly death. Something beat them back, and a Psyker, if one had been present, might just have noticed a ghostly voice echoing faintly through the ship.

_" Take that! And that! Try to get through my barrier, eh? Who the hell do you think I am?!"_

Then, if they were very powerful, they might have heard the screams of Daemons.

* * *

The darkness of the small office pressed heavily upon him as Leeron pressed the ''play'' button for what seemed like the hundredth time. The images sped by on reverse and then stopped, he sighed and watched again as his lovingly crafted children -- the twin custom Grapearls --- were torn to shreds by that monster.

He just didn't understand! The Grapearls had been created with superior technology to the Ganmen, they had been based on Gurren Lagann itself. They were supposed to have rendered all other mech obsolete even Gurren Lagann. And yet, as this sorry scene before his eyes clearly demonstrated, this just was not so.

An entire taken out by a single monster, this alone was not so bad. If might have been the strength and power of the self-proclaimed Daemon was simply too great for the Grapearls to handle. Yet, Gurren Lagann had destroyed the Daemon with relative ease. How could Simon possibly do what the Grapearl pilots had failed to do? It was driving him insane, he knew deep down that it all somehow tied to Spiral. It always did, but Gimmy and Darry were both Spirals as well, and nether of them defeated the monster.

It led him to a single, inescapable conclusion. The Grapearls were flawed, somehow, some way, there was a flaw in their one of their hundreds of complex systems that rendered them weaker than they should be.

Leeron didn't know what it was, but he swore he would find out, he would isolate it, study it, and when he understood it, he would begin production of Grapearl generation two.

* * *

The Arc-Gurren had been flying peacefully for several days. They were back in normal space now, Simon had used in initial burst of Spiral Energy to transport the entire ship out of the tainted space. Trouble was, they had no clue where they'd ended up. They knew it would be so, of course. Simon could bring them back to Earth in a heartbeat if need be.

David was a comtech -- a communications technician. It was down to him and his fellows to monitor all frequencies. It was a dull job, but someone had to do it. David was just the man, he _liked _dull. Dull was safe. David was an old man, had seen the revolution and the war against the Anti-Spirals. He was only too happy to take extra shifts. David had found a peace out here, you see, a peace amongst the stars. Listening to the steady rasp of nothing via the com was always comforting. Being here --- in true space, with none of that taint -- that was what David thrived on. Often, the gentle hissing and the sight of the starts from the window would lull him to sleep. It didn't tonight, but that was because there was no hissing tonight.

They had received a signal, it was man-made. It clearly had to have been sent from a ship. Yet he could make no sense of it at all. It had to be some kind of language but it was only one word, screamed by strange, bestial voices. Elongated and and played again in a loop. David knew his duty was to inform the captain at once, but he just couldn't resist listening to the sound one more time. Maybe if he listened to it enough, it would make sense. But no, it was still the same, the same sound filled the tiny room, the same bone-chilling sensation of utter brutality and blood-lust. Now was certainly time to tell the captain, but maybe, just one more time couldn't hurt?

His finger jabbed down on the button and the sound filled his ears again, it was guttural, sinister, and it spoke to his primitive brain of caves, muscles, fights, it spoke of strength, it spoke of power, it spoke of war. The sound looped one more time as David reached out to stop it.

**" WAAAAAGGGHH!"**

* * *

**AN:, Sorry for the lake of awesome battles in this chapter but as you can see, I'm setting up for multiple conflicts/points of interest so you'll need to bear with me for this. Next chapter, well things will get ''interesting'' for Viral and Simon as both of them will have to lead a different battle in their own way. **

**This Chapter is dedicated to PsyckoSama, for all his help in with the plot, as well as getting me the info I needed to a very popular 40K character can appear later in the fic. **

* * *

**Review Replies:**

**PsyckoSama**

I'd just like to say to the people who think Chaos could win this one...

You really haven't seen Gurren-Lagann have you? They've taken on and destroyed far worse

**Correct, there is no way *in hell* that Chaos is winning a straight out war against the Dai-Gurren brigade. But then, the strength of Chaos has always been its insidiousness, its corrupting influence and its ability to turn an enemy against themselves. **

**Vanstar X**

Wonderful story so far, really looking forward to more.

**Thank you. Its nice to know people enjoy my work. **

**Brian Boru**

That will be a harsh slap to the face for the chaos gods, and if the Eldar happen to notice that Slaanesh was permanently diminished by a Mon-keigh, I have a feeling that they will be suitably humbled.

**Ah yes, the Eldar... Lets just say they will not be left out of the fic for much longer. **

**Isak922**

Wewt for a new chapter!

Besides a few easily corrected spelling errors; quite enjoyable.

Was hoping for a bit flashier of a fight between Simon and the Keeper though =P

**Thanks, and originally I had planned for a much more dramatic fight between Simon and the Keeper. Life, however, interfered and I was too tired to do the really epic version. When I do the rewrite, expect that battle to be replaced with a much improved one. **

**Thanks to**

Isak922

Vanster X

zackubernerdcondon

**for adding this fic to their alert list. **


	7. Gathering Storm

The explosive sound of bolter fire roared in his ears as Brother Illiu's plasma pistol spat a the screaming tide of green death. One of the smaller Xenos fell, blood spraying from the wound, but the others came on even faster. Like the cold hand of Death himself, come to claim the brave soldiers of the Immortal Emperor.

A shot _pinged _off Illu's skull-helm, he growled, returned fire, more of the creatures died but it didn't halt the flood. The Chaplain looked death in the face and not for the first time, wondered if his life might have turned out differently had he not been selected to join the Chapter.

Behind him, the others had set up the defensive position, but in the face of the oncoming storm, it seemed pitiful and inadequate. Illu stood between the cover of the hastily erected walls that guarded the exit of the ancient corridor and the tide of savage Xenos. His Arcanum held tight in his hand, his pistol in the other. He roared, feeling the rush of strength it granted him, the Emperor was with him, always with him. He might win this battle, he might die, this entire ship might be overrun and destroyed but there was one fact certain in the mind of the Space Marine. He would not be defeated -- killed yes, but never humbled. Never humbled before the Xenos. He would fight to his last, for it was his sacred duty, not only as a Lost Warrior, but also as a Chaplain of the Astartes.

Brothers Tye and Davum opened up with heavy bolters, ripping through the Ork lines with bloody glee, Illu vaulted over the barriers, coming to rest between his brothers. The three marines had fought side by side more than he cared to remember. Illu found it hard to trust people -- even his own battle-brothers -- but both of them had truly earned his faith in them.

Bracing himself, Illu opened fire again, his shots burning with the Emperor's rightful wrath. One died, two, but more, always more. The smaller weaker ones, ''Boyz'' were losing numbers but there were bigger ones behind them. These were giants, fully as big as an Astartes, they carried heavy weapons and were more accurate than their smaller brothers. So far, only the ''Boyz'' had taken pot-shots at the small force, but that would change any minute. Soon, they would be blitzed by a barrage of sustained fire that would chip away at the barricades and even their own sacred power-armour. This was a hopeless fight, of that there was no mistake. A fight with no possibility of victory, a fight with death as the outcome no matter what. Despite this, Illu was glad that he held this gate. Glad because this kind of fight -- a hopeless stand, a last ditch effort, was exactly what the Astartes were made for. Glad because, though he would die, he would die in the service of the God Emperor of Mankind, and there was no greater honour.

" Rejoice brothers!" He called through the hellstorm of battle, " For we kill in His name!"

Tye, who of them all, had known Illu the longest and was possibly his only true friend in the Chapter nodded to himself. Tye was strange for a Space Marine. There were rumours, dark rumours, of a tainted Geneseed. Tye, of course, ignored them. His exemplary service to the Chapter seemed to condemn such rumours to insignificance save that his appearance was such a deviation from the norm. He was tall aye, but wiry, still a giant to a human, Tye seemed weaker than a marine should be. Hand to hand, most brothers could overpower him. But a lifetime of being the smallest had taught Tye long ago, losers play fair. Winners win by any method. He was fast as a snake, he knew all the weak-points and pain-spots of the human body, as well as several Xenos varieties. When he struck, it was always first, always unexpected. An ideal fight, he considered. should consist of a blur of motion, followed by the opponent's corpse hitting the ground. He was master of firearms. Capable of hitting the smallest target. Unfortunately, he thought, that was a skill he hardly needed for this fight.

It took no skill to hit the Orks, for they came in a single brutal mob, he could fire blind and still be sure of hitting them. Their own primitive weapons roared and flared and belched thick smoke, but they seemed to miss most of the time, and Tye had long since ceased to worry about the state of his armour if they did. A few chips showed where he had taken numerous close calls.

Another Ork died, crushed under the feet of its comrades. now the bigger ones led, rushing to the fight, eager for battle, their war cries resounded through the deck and even Illu paused for a second to appreciate the bestial power of the Orks.

The Chaplain knew they were as good as dead, the marines knew it too. If they were quick and deadly, they could take some Orks with them but that was as good as it got. The roaring was more felt than heard now, the deck vibrated and it seemed that for the _Majesty _ this was the end of the line. The final burning death that awaited all of the Emperor's servants.

Illu dug his armoured feet into the ground, a shot clipping his shoulders and a brief flash of agony before he blocked it with an ease born of decades of war. The Orks were almost upon them now, their fire was like rain. A furious rain of death, impossible to dodge or avoid. You had to wade in, to take it and have faith. Faith that your armour would hold, faith in the Emperor. Needless to say, Illu dared them to hit him, his massive form, his Power-Armour a real target for the on-coming horde.

Illu looked death in the face, saw it in the eyes of the roaring, hulking brutes. These were the Xenos that dared think themselves the equal of man. These were the enemies he had been created to defeat, and though death beckoned. Illu refused to let himself suffer defeat even now.

" With me, brothers!" He roared, rushing into the storm of fire. It was a risk but not much of one. His armour could probably handle the turbulent storm of heavy fire and if it didn't, it wasn't like staying behind cover would keep him alive much longer. Better to die with a weapon in hand than to face his demise cowering behind a feeble barrier.

Tye leapt the barricade, landing gracefully with hardly a pause in his firing. The former veteran sergeant was welding a pair of bolt-pistols, their lethal barks echoed even through the thunderous sounds of the Orks. Davum took a little longer, but he too saw death and like a true Astartes, he faced it head on rather than running or hiding.

" WAAAGGHH!" The Orks roared almost as one, their bestial voices joined together in a cacophony of savage power and death. The marines charged them, running through the roaring fire of their guns, armour chips flew and sparks flared. Illu felt pain time and again as lucky shots penetrated, his primary heart was pierced by a rogue shell. Falling to his knees, his vision dimmed for a split second.

Tye and Davum didn't stop, they knew he wouldn't have wanted them to. They were committed now, their fire answered the Orks' hellstorm. But it seemed weak and lack-lustre. Illu righted himself in time to see the biggest Ork he had ever witnessed rear out of the crowd. The brute lugged a massive gun -- it looked like it had been looted from an Ogryn, and was already aiming. Illu realized with a start of his remaining heart that it was targeted at him!

The weapon spat the inferno of death, and Illu leapt awkwardly sideways, he felt a thousand tiny bumps and scraps as his armour bore the brunt of the attack. The air was knocked from his lungs, smacking into the bulkhead, he saw that an Ork was towering above him. The sounds of battle informed the Chaplain that the others had also engaged the greenskins.

His arcanum's power-field hissed as he used it to rip through the Ork's rib-cage, the beast staggered back, losing blood quickly. Two more rushed him, but Illu was on his feet now, he swung his weapon again, caving in the skull of one Ork, shooting another in the face. A savage fist tore into his chest and the armour broke -- it actually broke! Turning to face his attacker, Illu saw the another Ork had picked up the beast's deadly looted weapon.

* * *

Griskill was havin' a great time. What with all the killin', and lootin' and fightin'. He roared, his best roar. The 'umie before him, with the skull face, seemed unperturbed by Griskill's clear superiority so it looked like 'e'd have to beat it into 'im.

The WAAGGHH was strong in the massive Nob, it flowed through him and augmented his already considerable muscle power. He felt it like it was lightin' crackling through him, it was a power, it was the ultimate power. It was what Orks the bestest fighters around!

Grisskill was so pumped up on WAAGHH energy by this point, that when he pointed his stolen and highly modified ripper gun, it did _not explode_ in his face due to the nature of the highly suspect changes, did not spray him with deadly lances of burning metal. It spewed forth a stream of shots as he expected it to, in fact it did so _because _he expected it to.

The humie tried to dodge, but even an Astartes advanced reaction times seemed laughably slow to an Ork so submerged in WAAGHH energy. The armoured humie seemed to dance as the shots slammed into him, the cracks on his torso from Grisskill's first blow widened and blew apart, blood splashed and in only served to drive Grisskill deeper into the WAAGHH.

The humie said something, but Grisskill wasn't listening, he watched as one o' the Boyz picked up 'is own arm and backhanded a humie across the 'ead

* * *

Alice Katsikumi sat at her station stiffly. It had been some time since they set out, and after the brief excitement of the teleportation, it seemed things had reached a dull normality. First Officer Viral practically ran the ship on his own, Admiral Simon seemed to differ to him in most things and to a few of the crew, it projected a weak image but Alice thought she knew the truth. Simon was a smart man, he knew that Viral was a far better captain than he -- Simon's worth was in combat, was in Gurren Lagann! She still experienced a thrill of excitement even picturing that giant mech that they now carried. Gurren Lagann was a legend! A real mythical figure, a defender of humanity.

The door to small walled off section of the bridge opened and in walked the man she sat waiting for, Coll, Coll was a bit of a mystery even to her, in fact especially to her -- Alice may have been a pretty face but she always tried to be more than just that. She made it her job to know the ins and outs and whys of everyone of note on board. She knew about Viral, his stint in the navy, his past as a Beastman leader, she even knew a little bit about Simon post Spiral War. What she didn't know about, was Coll. She had called upon all her contacts, followed up all leads and she could only manage to reaffirm a few facts about him. He was a pilot, qualified to fly a Grapearl but also theoretically capable of piloting most military vehicles. He had been put on board the ship -- exiled might be a better word, in fact, because he had made enemies back home. But who those enemies were, or what he'd done to gain them was anyone's guess. She knew his type, the worms, the snakes. Back home, she'd dealt with them all the time, but that was before she went straight... Now, she would use the knowledge she'd gained by less legal means and try to put a stop to Coll before anything got started.

Coll saluted her, her superior rank as Bridge Officer meant that there were few people she could not give orders and Coll was certainly not one of them. She hit a tiny smirk as she saw his unwilling features, though he tried to hide them. Just as she recognised Coll, he recognised her. They were alike, as distasteful as she found him, she also knew they probably had more in common than anyone else on ship.

" Reporting as ordered," said Coll simply, still playing his ''good soldier'' act.

" Cut it, Coll," she snarled, in no mood to deal with this kind of game, " I know what you're planning."

He raised an eyebrow, " Oh? And what if I said I was but a loyal and trust-worthy member of the crew who is having his life's dream fulfilled serving with the legendary Dai-Gurren Brigade?"

" I'd call you a liar, in fact, I'd call you a bad liar. Some ''loyal and trustworthy member of the crew'' you filed no less than twenty appeals against your placement here. Doesn't sound like your dream job to me."

Coll smirked for the first time, and she realized he was more than she had expected. She'd expected a liar, a cheat, a man with impossibly high goals but with little real ability. What she had instead was a liar, a cheat true, but also a man with total confidence in himself, she had a mental word for this type, _shark. _They'd take any opening they could get and damn the innocents that got hurt by their rise to power. She'd played ball with a fair few of them in her time, but she had also not liked it one bit.

" I would say," Coll spoke slowly, his grin that of a predator facing a cornered victim, "that anyone who had access to that level of information was ether very highly placed -- which you evidently are not, or gained access to those files in a less than legal manner. I wonder then, how captain Simon would react if he found out a member of the crew had gained access to confidential government information illegally? Not in a happy way, I would imagine."

" Are you threatening me, Coll?"

" No, I am merely drawing the line in the sand, I shall be blunt with you, deck-officer. I don't care about ''captain'' Simon, or first officer ''shark-teeth'' Viral. I don't really give a shit about the success of this entire mission, to be frank. Most of these crew are sheep, loyal, protective sheeple. Not you or me, no I see it in your eyes. You may deny it, fight against it, but at heart you're like me, a predator. A predator amongst a flock of sheep. Wanna know the difference between you and me? You're fighting against it, I'm embracing it. You're not the only one who's done their research, I know all about you -- and something tells me you know less than all about myself."

Alice was finding herself hemmed in, she had not counted on Coll reacting like this, nor having so much knowledge, and the look in his eyes! Bravely, she gathered herself.

" I hardly think you are in a higher position than me."

" Oh really? Lets take a look at the positions then. On one hand we have you -- a deck-officer on a ship currently in a dangerous mission that has a good chance it being attacked and possibly being destroyed. You are in, what amounts to, exile, in a job with no promotion prospects. You're as high as you can be without someone actually dying and once we get back, what's the chances Simon and Viral steal all the glory and we get left out in the cold, hmm? Me, on the other hand? I got prospects, I got plans. So what, I didn't wanna be here, I am now and I'm going to make the best of it -- the one sure way to power is the one I'm taking, now if you'll excuse me, ''first officer'' Viral sent out a request for able-bodied men with combat training to meet in the central mess-hall and arm up in case we need to pull a boarding action, apparently Rossiu didn't send enough soldiers so we pilots are gonna have to double as fighters. Now if you'll excuse me, girly, I need to be on my way so listen up! I've got my plans, and I'm sure you've got yours. I wont mess up yours if you don't foil mine. Simple."

With that, he turned and left the room. Alice was speechless for a few seconds -- she could have him punished for disrespecting a superior but part of her knew that it wasn't worth it. Coll clearly held no respect for those in command... he was a danger, she decided, a loose cannon. And what plans? She didn't trust this man an inch. Though she couldn't shake the feeling Coll had won this round, she decided that he would not be allowed to win the war. This wasn't over between them, she knew it and so did he. There would eventually be a reckoning between them and until then, she would do her damnedest to ruin his plans.

* * *

The captain's room was a luxurious left-over from the days of the Arc-Gurren's construction. It was decorated in emerald green, spirals covered the walls, the furniture was deep red and there were works of art on stands dotted here and there. The bed itself was a thing of beauty, if you sat in it, it almost felt like you were sinking into water.

Simon was currently reclining in one of the armchairs. Ill at home in this luxury, he spent much of his waking time up and about. The ship, he had quickly learned, did not particularly need him in its day to day running since the background Spiral energy was more than enough to keep it working. Viral was sitting in the seat before him, the Beastman seemed to have come alive on the ship, Simon thought. He was born to command, made for it. Simon normally just sat back and let him do what he needed to do.

"

-and finally, the turbines have been fluctuating slightly since we left the tainted space, but they should be repaired in no time."

Simon smiled-- not smirked, nor even smiled the way his bro would have. This was a typical smile from Simon, happy. He inclined his head to his friend/rival.

" It seems you're doing a good job running the ship then."

" Maybe but we have a possible problem."

Simon nodded, he had been thinking about this all day, their first transmission from the natives and it had been a strange, primal scream. Simon had no clue what it meant -- if anything -- but he did know it could herald nothing good. Still, what could they do but follow the sounds and see what kind of universe they had found themselves in? The crew had been rather split on the manner, but Simon had vetoed them. They were going to find out what was causing this sound. Simon was no fool, if they left it now, it may well stab them in the back later. Better to get it out of the way now, when everyone was ready.

" At current speed we have fifteen minutes before we reach the origination point. Any plans on what we do once we get there?"

Simon simply smiled, he _did _have a plan, but it was always much better to hear out those of the people around him before announcing his own. Viral, who knew Simon well, launched straight into his own.

" When we arrive, I'll have the Com-techs transmit a greeting and a request for information. If they're friendly, we proceed via diplomatic channels to discover more about this place and how we ended up here."

" Sounds good," said Simon, the Spiral Matrix in his hand, he was playing with it, his fingers wrapping around it, releasing it, tossing it into the air and catching it. It was like a magnet for him -- since his time on-board, Simon had come to the conclusion that the Matrix absorbed Spiral Energy -- not much, not enough to even be noticeable to anyone who hadn't been working with it for all of their lives. But it did, this had been enough to rouse Simon's curiosity and he had explored it as best he could -- what he discovered was little, it seemed to channel the energy it took but what it did with it was unknown. He mentally shrugged and turned back to the conversation.

" Here's the part I don't like," continued Viral, " we're gonna be arriving with weapons off-line in order to give the appearance of a peaceful ship -- first impressions are vital and we don't need to look like war-mongers."

" It sounds logical," said Simon. Though he too felt the slight tinge of unease that was born of sending their only ship in undefended, then, an idea struck him.

" Why not have an escort force of Grapearls follow the Arc in? That way we still retain some defensibility."

Viral's turn to smirk now, his needle teeth shone in the light and Simon was forced to remember when they had first met --- his bro had been hunting with Yoko, Viral had been hunting as well and the two parties met. It had quickly turned dangerous, what with Viral and Kamina duelling in the middle of a field of tall grass. Simon recalled how Yoko had fired and Viral had actually managed to block the shot with his blade! Even more amazing was that despite the massive advantages Viral had over him, Kamina had managed to wound the beastman before the battle came down to ganmen.

" And I suppose that Gurren Lagann would be taking the place of honour in this guard?"

" Exactly, unless they've run into the Spirals before, any aliens we encounter wont likely know just how powerful Gurren Lagann is -- we'll be able to keep it as a hidden strength."

" Crafty," commented Viral, " very crafty. I've ordered the pilots to congregate in the mess hall -- it seemed a wise decision at the time. Do you want to hand-pick the guard or shall I send the best?"

" The best, I think, we have no idea what these beings' reaction will be, best to be ready for anything."

" Excellent." Simon stood up as quickly as if he had been shocked. Truth be told, he was glad to have a real job to do rather than sitting around watching other people do theirs.

Someone knocked at the door, both of them turned and Simon said," Enter."

The door opened quickly and Simon recognised one of the Bridge-Officers. She was the one who had greeted him when he first came aboard -- Alice, wasn't it? In any case, she looked shaken.

Viral nodded to her, " What is it? I assume you had a reason for disturbing us."

" Yes, sir," she said, still pale.

" Don't start all that ''sir'' stuff!" said Simon, " I got enough of that from the rest of the crew, and I don't need it from the bridge as well! Just call me Simon."]

" Y-yes Simon."

" Well," growled Viral, " what is it?"

" We're getting our first look at the battle now, our sensors are picking up... well it would be easier just to show you."

" Very well," Simon said, " you coming, Viral?"

" Sure, I wont miss out on this."

Together, the trio made their way to the bridge, Alice led them quickly, as if secretly wishing they could be running rather than just briskly walking. As he entered the bridge, Simon noticed that it was on power-saver mode again. He strode through the darkness as the officers worked hurriedly, their faces bent over the controls. This time, his arrival didn't even cause a stir. And he could see why, the main screen showed them what they were heading towards. It was clearly an ambush of some kind -- there were four ships involved, two of them looked crude. As if they'd been cobbled together and really shouldn't be able to fly. The other two looked something like ship-board churches. They had spires and towers and looked almost like floating cathedrals -- at the same time, they had clearly been built for war, weapons emplacements were clear as day and Simon had to wonder at the civilization that would build a ship like this and what it said about them. One of the ships was lurching drunkenly, fire streamed from its side where it had been rammed by some kind of boarding device, smaller ones had touched down all over it and they now coated it. They shared the cobbled-together look of the other craft. The last ship was rocking and juddering under the impact as the guns of the two aggressors pelted it mercilessly. It was badly damaged, massive chunks of metal had been ripped from its hull, but it fought on, and it moved, darting through space more rapidly than Simon ever would have expected. It returned fire, and the enemy craft fell back, but whoever was driving them ether couldn't drive worth a damn, or simply didn't care. They blazed away wildly into space and it was safe to say that ninety-percent of the ammo was wasted, but the other ten percent struck and it did great damage. Around the battle, debris floated, Simon counted the gutted corpses of several of the cobbled-ships. it looked like a large group of them had ambushed the church-ships in force.

Far off in the distance, at the very limits of their sensors, a planet. More of the ships surrounded it and Simon thought grimly of a world at war. Only one thing could be done now, Simon knew. They couldn't just turn back, it seemed that the church-ships had been caught trying to escape from the planet, or trying to get to the planet -- the world itself was clearly under siege and from the flashes and flares, under orbital bombardment. Millions of beings dying even as he watched.... Simon had learned long ago, there was a time for logical thought, and for hot-bloodedness, now it was time for the latter.

" Everyone! Listen up!" His voice resounded throughout the room, the officers turning to look at him.

" That world's under attack, and they are getting bombarded! Now, I'm sure you all don't wanna get involved in a war, but it doesn't matter. Innocent people are dying and we have to find out why. Bring weapons to full power, we're going to war!"

He turned to Viral, " I'm taking Gurren Lagann out with the first wave, we'll obliterate the ships attacking those two church-ship-things and then continue on to the fleet that's attacking the planet. Keep the Arc back, but launch all Grapearls."

The beastman nodded, " Very well, but be careful, we have no idea how powerful those weapons are, and despite what you said, getting involved in a way we didn't start is not a good way to announce our arrival."

Simon gestured at the planet, fire raining from the heavens, " We don't have a choice, we can't just leave them to die."

" The planet might not even have any civilians." Countered Viral.

" I'm not taking that risk," replied Simon simply. " Besides, if this works out, we'll get some allies."

The siren rang clear through the ship, " Grapearl pilots to stations, first launch in two minutes."

Viral watched as Simon jogged out of the bridge, and could not help but feel worried, " I hope you know what you're doing, Simon."

* * *

With a final flash of multi-coloured light, a heaving of the superstructure and a blast of invisible Warp-energy, the _Black Heart _ arrived, like a monster appearing from red-tainted mist, it hung above the planet like an angry God.

In the control room, surrounded by the gory trophies he had taken, Chapter Master Irinian briefed his Captains.

" We could kill them from here, but the Gods demand far more than mere killing -- not one, but two Greater Daemons have fallen there, nether have been returned. They _died _on that planet."

Several of the captains cursed or whispered something in the blessed language of Chaos They kneeled in rows before their Master, Irinian's skull-coated armour seemed to glisten and his weapons were by his side.

" This is a personal matter, Chapter honour. We lost our own here, and weaklings though they were, undeserving as they were of life, we must avenge them. Here's how it will go, the _Black Heart _ will wait in orbit and provide support when needed, we don't bombard anything but a major threat. The rest we do up close and personal. Drop-pods will launch to the capital and the biggest cities. Massacre them, no survivors, take them unprepared and spill their blood for your Gods! Heavy support will be landed later, their military, if not destroyed in the first onslaught, will try to regroup. We crush them then and there."

He looked into the eyes of each of the captains one by one, " after that is done, we turn this world into what it should be. Rivers of blood, dedicated to the Gods United! We will not fail! Glory to Chaos! Glory to the Dark Gods!"

The cry was taken up by the assembled captains and soon the room seemed to throb with Warp energy. In the back, the Liberian, Demos, watched with interested eyes,

This was what he had been waiting for, after he had purged the Spiral Energy from his form, he had offered his very soul to the Change God if only he had a chance for vengeance. Now, it would be his and he looked forward to claiming the head of the one called ''Simon.''

Fifteen minutes later, the _Blackj Heart _heaved and spat out a rain of Drop-Pods. They sailed down through the upper atmosphere and passed the Spiral Shield. By now, only a few people below had noticed, but the alarm was being raised. The drop-pot contained Demos, the Chapter Master and his honour guard sailed straight for Kamina city.

* * *

AN: Well, it was pretty good I think, don;'t forget to review and tell me what you thought, now, on to the replies!

julius kaeseron

good story, one question will their be space marines {not traitorous chaos marines} but marines loyal to the god emperor, will they fight a battle barge, will they be boarded by space marines. sure their mecha are uber powerful, but outside against the super human soldiers of the emperor the almight "angels of death"  
note that the Imperium of man will likey go to war with them sice they may take the beastmen as aliens and the human that fight with them as traitors to the emperor. simular with the diasporex during the horus heresy kinda simular

Well now you have your Loyal Marines! Actually, I planned to add them all along but I just bided my time. And you got it right -- their mecha are powerful but on the ground, Imperium forces heavily outweigh anything Spiral Earth can throw at them. Actually, I believe that Grapearls would stand no chance against a Titan, their only real advantages are Spiral Power and Gurren Lagann ( as well as the other Lagann-type mechs they have in storage.

Isak922

Oh my...

Not that action packed of a chapter, but a good amount of plot =P

But now all I can think of is Orks yelling about all the DAKKA that Gurren Lagann and Arc Gurren can put out!

And by Dakka, I mean Drills. Lots and lots of drills.

Course, itz neva enuff Dakka. D'ere iz no such thing as ENUFF DAKKA.

Yeah, the plot was important and I had to get it done, but now back to the mindless smashing! Hope you liked the Orks, they had a small part in this Chapter but they will be appearing*much* more often, trust me on this... I'm not too good at Ork-speak though.... And you think they'll be content with drills? Trust me... later in the fic you'll see the full power of the Orks....

Vanster X

Nice update, keep em coming.

I will as long as you lot do with the reviews!

The vote

I don't think the spirals could never take the chaos gods in their own realm, the warp is power never ending, they feed on the souls and emotions of everything within their grasp. And seriously the galaxy sized whatever had to be when the plot became retarded in the anime

Nope, the Galaxy-Sized Gurren Lagann is a power they can call up whenever they want -- and if you really think the Dark Gods will curbstomb the Dai-Gurren brigade, you've really never seen TTGL.

-

Gurren Lagann has to be one of the worst animes out there, seriously believing in yourself? Worse then what it is with all the fanboys on spacebatles

Hmm.... well here we have a message with nothing useful and only an insult aimed at TTGL -- but I really must thank you, you pushed up my review count, hence getting me more readers... Awesome... and as to TTGL, there are far worse messages that could be sent than believing in yourself. As to the fanboys in Spacebattles -- its just like any other show, some like it, some don't. If you wish to discuss this farther, go right ahead but you'll have to actually be brave enough to use your account and *not* an anon message. Real brave.....

Anyway, for those of you who reviewed, thanks! See you next update!


	8. Assault on Kamina City

**Chapter 8: The Onrushing Storm **

The first time Rossiu realized something was terribly wrong was when he got a call from Leeron.

The engineer had been working hard on his newest pet-project – the second generation of Grapearls. Though he still didn't know exactly what was downgrading their performance, even Rossiu agreed that to have sub-pair units was simply unacceptable.

It was a cool night – the sun had finished setting around fifteen minutes ago and already, the night-time was leeching the warmth from the city like a strange parasite, the vivid red of the sky was lie a rash, intruding upon the otherwise peaceful night. Rossiu had been working hard since the Dai-Gurren Brigade left, the populace needed to be soothed and calmed, and it looked like he'd have to be the one to do it, though truth be told, he could entrust the job to no other.

He had been forced to calm the citizens, even as he had the military install multiple new defences in and around the city. The foremost of these had been nicknamed the ''spider's web''. They were a master piece of Leeron's work. They were also, a very monumental piece of engineering, as they were the new Spiral civilizations first weapon to run on Spiral energy. They were incredibly primitive next to the Spiral Cannons on the Citadel of Terra, or even the weapons of Gurren Lagann. Compared to their ancestors made by the original Spirals, they were wasteful, inaccurate and prone to overheating. They were also, the most destructive none bomb-type weapon the human race had in their arsenal. Each node was a small turret built on top of a bunker just large enough for two to four people. The turret could move and while it was possible to use for ground-combat, it was highly discouraged as they could cause massive damage to anything be it friend or foe and a misfire would be... bad.

There were fifty one individual nodes scattered throughout Kamina city, they were networked together with their power-supply and auto-aiming systems, one node, the master node, was able to redirect and control all others, though they had sufficiently advanced computers that they could put up a fight on their own. Most of them were garrisoned with trust-worthy soldiers to defend them, and to direct the computers. This was important, because they drew their energy from those inside the bunker. When active, they would force a massive interconnecting field of fire above the city. From above, it would look like a searing emerald web of connecting pulses of Spiral Energy – hence the name.

It was undoubtedly primitive when one looked at the weapons developed and deployed in Gurren Lagann and the few surviving war-machines from that era. But it marked a momentous point in the history of the human race – the day they reclaimed Spiral Power to use for the good of the majority. It was the first step – the first step in a long, hard road – that would eventually lead to the likes of Lagann and Lazengann walking the Earth again.

A yawn escaped his lips and Rossiu realized just how tired he was, it seemed an eternity since he last slept, and the development of the ''spider's web'' had been highly public, inviting reporters everywhere to view the sites and take photos of him posing next them. He was looking forward to finally getting some well-deserved sleep. He laughed to himself, remembering his early youth, the village elder who had taught him so much. How impossible it would seem back then, that the human race could overthrow the beastmen and return to its dominant position, that the big cities could grow and prosper, that so many people could live together in unity. That they could on day reach into the stars. But now, now it seemed all that was threatened, pulled into a hostile place, where the sky was red and blood-soaked raiders descended from the sky with demons, cut off from all aid and possible allies. Rossiu swore he would not let it end this way, though it often didn't appear as such, he felt just as strongly on the mater as Simon or even Kamina would have.

Let Simon go off gallivanting across the stars on the word of a dying demon, he would just have to be the one to defend mankind. Not from the front, like the Dai-Gurren Brigade would have, but with his personality, with the armies of mankind, with the government, the soldier. The way of the Dai-Gurren Brigade was the past, his way, the way of politicians, and diplomats and plans and cunning schemes, that was the way of the future.

Suddenly, his heart leapt as the lights in his room flashed red – a sign that there was an emergency – he turned to the computer-screen embedded in the wall just as it flashed on. The screen was in high resolution. Leeron looked out at him, the usual fashionable man was wearing what looked like his night-clothes, his eyes were wild and a a sudden voice in the back of Rossiu's head whispered one word: _danger. _

" Rossiu!" Cried Leeron in a relived tone, " I was worried we wouldn't be able to make contact with you. Something just appeared above the earth."

His heart thudded in his chest, a bad taste in his mouth, Rosiu forced his dry lips to speak, " what is it?"

The answer, unfortunately, was exactly what he expected. The set of Leeron's face made it almost impossible not to. The grim look in his eyes vanquished any lingering doubt.

" Its them."

Suddenly, a dead calm descended upon Rossiu's troubled mind. This was it, what he had been planning for since they first arrived and the original raid had coated their streets in blood. Now they were back, and Simon wasn't going to be saving the day this time around. It was up to them, Rossiu nodded, but inside, he was a tangled ball of doubt and fears. _ What if the defences failed? What if they landed overwhelming force? What if he wasn't good enough to save everyone? _ But outwards, he was as ever in total control.

" Go to red alert," he ordered, "have the military deploy to their pre-selected positions, order the Grapearl flights to launch. Have the Spiral-Turrets active and target them as soon as they come within optimal range."

The ''spider's web'' could probably have hit them from where they were, but the punch would have been massively reduced, and the element of surprise lost. So, Rossiu ordered them to hold their fire until the enemy was descending.

" We've got a lock on them," said Leeron, and the image was replaced by that of the corrupted space. Rossiu saw a massive, bloated ship. It looked to have been a recognisable construct originally, but _something _had grown over it like a shell of gore. The cannons protruded threateningly and even as he looked, the ship discharged a storm of what turned out to be drop-pods.

The screen zoomed in on them as they shot downwards at a staggering speed, starting to glow cherry red as they came. It was hard to connect them with the deadly warriors who had attacked Earth the last time, but now Rossiu held the terrible knowledge that this was no simple raid, the ship was holding position above the planet, a hulking brute ready to bombard them at the at the first chance it got. The first wave was speeding towards them faster than thought, ready to spill into his city like a cancer. A cancer that needed to be cut out. No, this was no simple raid, this was a full blown invasion.

Even as he stood watching, the pods shoot into the range of the turret-system. Almost at once, all over the city, Spiral-Turrets turned, adjusting their cross-hairs. Their computer systems adjusting for atmospheric pressure. The turrets gleamed in the red light of the tainted sky, and then, they fired. Each turret belched a steady stream of emerald coloured energy. The concentrated Spiral Power of those inside.

The sky became a killing zone as the Drop-Pods fell into the unexpected resistance becoming tiny blossoms of fire against the backdrop of the crimson heavens. But more came, and more, the interlocking beams of emerald light seared the eyes as they knifed up at the oncoming attackers, but if there was one drawback of the marvellous Spiral-Cannons, it was that the beams had a difference in strength. Some Spirals had more strength than others, and the beams reflected this, the combined energy of the more hot-blooded of the soldiers speared through drop-pods, one-shooting many of the heavily armoured transports. But on the other hand, the less hot-blooded had trouble penetrating the defensive armour, and many pods only listed to the side, or lost their trajectory. Of course, even amongst the most powerful Spirals, there were a few who's cannons fired especially powerfully.

__

" FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" Attenborough's hand slammed down on the fire button again and again, discharging more Spiral energy than his two nearest neighbours combined. He laughed maniacally as another drop-pod burst into flames, was impaled by his weapon and exploded in a fiery shower of metal.

It was what he always dreamed, a powerful weapon firing at his command, and it did all the aiming for him! All he had to do was to press the button and watch as the computer did all the rest! It was like he was in love! He felt the power surge through the machine in the same instant it surged in his body, it was a feeling he'd gottten only one other place: The bridge of the Tanga Toppa Gurren Lagann

The screen locked on to another target and a massive grin grew on his face, " FIRE!" He screamed, again, the burning flames alight in his eyes enough to impressive even the late Kamina. The beam of energy lanced from the hastily constructed turret and impaled the drop-pod.

" I'll show them to mess with me! FIRE!"

__

Rossiu burst into the control room of the central node in the Spiral Cannon network, it had been set up on the roof of the government building. The two occupants turned to regard him, there was Leeron and... Kittan?! No, he must have been mistaken. The blonde-haired Dai-Gurren Brigadier vanished as soon as he tried to focus on him. He shook his head to clear the vision, it must have been the stress of his station.

" Are you all right? You look a pit peaky, but then again you haven't been getting much beauty sleep.

Rossiu looked up at the screen, it had zoomed out, demonstrating the battle at large. So far, it looked good. The first wave of drop-pods had been heavily depleted, burning wreckage littered the streets, several buildings had been damaged when a rogue pod smashed into them, or crested them too closely.

But, it wasn't all good, the first few that had landed touched down safely, emptying of their contents. Cameras dotted around the city showed him grisly pictures of red-clad giants, the military had set up blockades on his order with heavy weapons, but he personally doubted they would hold long. His plan involved using the Grapearls as mobile fortresses, their speed meant their superior fire-power could be brought to bear with little trouble, combined with the military's preprepared defences, it ought to be enough to hold out.

He wasn't even thinking about the massive cost in lives, of civilians caught in the cross-fire between the invading forces and the defenders, now Rossiu was all business. The Spiral-Turrets roared and spat death at the oncoming enemies, but he knew they alone could not win the battle,. He had been fearing this since the last raid by these unknowns, that the might return, in greater numbers with their goal being more than simple slaughter. This time, it looked like they had come for conquest, and if they shared the bloodthirsty nature of their late brothers, he didn't even want to think what they might do if they won.

A part of him wished that Simon and co were still here, though the two of them might have disagreed sometimes, Simon was just the kind of man you wanted to help you in this kind of situation. Not the best for subtlety though.

The computer gave a beep and a red rectangle flashed on screen, mapping the projected path of a new flight of drop-pods, along with a timer rapidly counting down to zero. Rossiu knew what this meant, it was a sign he'd been waiting for since the attack began. It meant that the flight – six drop-pods in all --- was heading directly for the administrative centre of the city – this very building.

Leeron noticed it as well, his face scrounged up for a second and then he said, " Even if we redirect every turret in range, odds are at least three pods will hit us, they're moving at a much greater speed than any of the others. Looks like they guessed we're directing the counter attack."

" They want a short fight," Rossiu guessed, working quickly, the rapidly approaching pods seemed to take up the whole screen. His eyes were drawn to them like a moth might be to a flame, they had to work quickly now, before they were , " Is the building evacuated?"

" Almost, security is in full force, essential personnel are all down stairs overseeing city-wide communication and Grapearl linkings. We have a of soldiers standing ready to repel an enemy attack."

" Soldiers wont be enough, Leeron, we've _seen _these guys fight. They'll tear through normal men like wet tissue-paper."

The timer was getting much lower now, and Rossiu counted only a few seconds before impact, the blazing green light of the defensive turrets sliced into their formation, one pod skewed to the side, tumbling as it struck ground and exploded. Red armoured forms rushing out of the blazing wreck.

" Soldiers ready!" Barked Rossiu into the com-link with the duty-officers, " Prepare for assault on the buildings. Whatever happens, we _must _hold the lower levels if the communication between forces is to be maintained."

And that, was all they had time for. The soldiers had been warned, they could set up chock-points throughout the building, but it seemed a pitiful resistance compared to what the invaders could bring. Rossiu had spent a long time worrying over their superior abilities in hand to hand combat since the last raid, he had fretted and planned and eventually come to the conclusion that the only way they could win was with overwhelming force. Something they should have in this instance, since the building was practically swarming with their own soldiers. Unfortunately, judging by the last battle, the enemy had far more advanced armour and weaponry, and while attempts were being made to reverse-engineer captured technology, it was considerably setback by the fact that the head scientist in charge of dissecting the strange machinery had gone made and had to be killed before he shot dead the rest of the team. What they did learn was grim; the invaders could hit harder and take far more damage than any infantry they had. So, Rossiu had formulated the strategy that they should be engaged from range, and never up-close. He had stressed that any man fighting within arm's reach of the invaders was already dead.

He only hoped he had prepared sufficiently, but as another two of the pods were shot down, he realized that this was something he could never truly prepare for. More Spiral beams slashed through the air, but they were too little, not enough time. The building shook violently as the pods impacted and for a brief moment, Rossiu thought that the administrative building wouldn't be able to put up with the stress, but it proved false. The building was strong, it was one of the first that had been put up after the erection of the Kamina statue. It had been made well, more floors than even he could remember, it included unnumbered below ground levels where Leeron and the best of his ilk practised their craft.

The building held, and the cannons returned their fire to the sky, but the pods were getting farther apart now, and fewer, those that had landed were discharging their troops, and now, his city would fight for its life.

There was a scrambled report from the radio, " Contact! Hostiles in the building, second floor, G-section!" There was the sounds of gun-fire then a louder, more destructive weapon of unknown make, and then, nothing but static.

Leeron and Rossiu shared a look, the first stage of the battle was over, now the enemy would strike back. And they could only hope Kamina City could take after the one who it was named for, and prove strong enough to endure the coming hours of Hell.

__

The doors of the drop-pod blew open with a hiss and a shriek, the fleshy web spun between the struts fell away and Irinian let loose, his mighty armour flaming in the Chaotic magic of his very presence, he roared, like a monster from a long forgotten fable, brandishing the power-axe he took from the dead hands of the former Chapter Master – the one who tired to prevent their fall to Chaos – and bellowed.

" For the Dark Gods! Kill for Chaos, my brothers! Kill for Chaos!"

The six marines that accompanied him, a five-marine honour guard and Chief Liberian Demos, spilled out from the pod, weapons discharging into the enemy soldiers already arriving.

Half of them died in the first few seconds, totally unprepared for the brute power of _Astartes, _the others were the ones who were lucky enough to find cover after the initial barrage., then it was into hand to hand. _Bloody Fist _Chapter had made this its speciality, even before the _Fall. _ And since they gained the blessing of the Dark Gods, it had become their primary focus in combat.

Since the other five members of the honour guard were suited in Terminator Armour, they made quick work of the defenders, ripping them to shreds even as Demos struck at their minds and souls with his warp-magic. He had been worried that his powers would be compromised were he under the protective field of emerald energy that surrounded the planet, but he need not have. While it was true, his abilities were diminished, they were still far more than required in order to finish these lowly humans.

In mere seconds, the hall was cleared, the gaping hole behind them through which they had entered howled in the wind, but for Demos, it sounded like a Daemon summoned into this world, and he found it a fitting backdrop for their conquest of this pathetic planet.

" Demos!" Barked Irinian, the Liberian nodded, knowing what had to be done.

His brothers moved quickly to secure the hall, checking their weapons and boasting of their exploits. Demos closed his eyes, focused his mind and called upon the Changer of Ways to grant him the knowledge he sought.

Almost at once, Demos ''soul'' floated free, unhindered by mortal bounds, he looked beyond the hall, immediately , he felt the glorious presence of his brothers around him, their powerful bodies infused with a Chaotic presence that he would recognise it at any distance. Beyond them, there was the vague, shadowy half-lights in the Warp case by human souls. These, he could safely ignore, they were dim, as the soul of an unenlightened human ought to be. But here and there, he could feel the glows of those gifted - -with a blazing mind, or a commanding presence or even a primitive talent with the Warp held in check by that strange Spiral Energy. These, he marked out with a mind for later extermination to throw the enemy into confusion. Higher, he climbed, searching the surface thoughts of those nearest his avatar, mental voices assailed him in waves, but with a skill born of years of practice, a mental shield formed from tireless practice and an iron mind with which he had seen off many attack, he scanned them and moved on.

He was looking for something, a powerful mind, a leader. He had done this a thousand times before, and each time, brought his Chapter victory. He was close now, the minds growing stronger in their glow. A few of them might have been worthy to became A_startes _were this world held in the decaying grasp of the Corpse-Emperor. He skimped from mind to mind, stealing thoughts and words, looking, searching, feeling, fitting it all together like a jigsaw. A single word, he found in every mind echoing with a strange kind of respect, _Rossiu _There! A mind that burned with an emerald flame. It was much like that of the pilot Simon, but where Simon's burned with a passion, Rossiu held his flames in a cage of chilly ice. It was a strange contradiction, enough to bring a smile to his face. Now, he had located his target, he could kill him in an instant, could boil his blood, fill his bones with liquid metal, smash his brain against the inside of his skull. He could end the life of Rossiu and everyone in the room with Rossiu. But this was not his mission.

He opened his eyes and snapped back to the present, Irinian watched over him, and Demos spoke, " I found him, Chapter Master. I can kill him now if you wish, if you order it, I can obliterate the mind of every soldier of rank"

Irinian smiled at his bloodlust, " No, Chief Liberian. You're worship of the Gods is certainly commendable, but I want this leader to _suffer. _ I want him to see, as his soldiers die, I want him to know he has been defeated by someone who is in every way, superior."

" Yes, Chapter Master."

" You know where he is?"

" Yes, Lord."

Irinian roared his next words, " Move out! We'll bleed them dry as we fight our way to their leader. Don't call him, I wish him to live for now!"

Privatively , the Chapter Master grinned behind his Chaos-blessed helmet, the vox-link to the ship was intact though a bit blurry, " Come in."

" We hear you, Chapter Master,"

" Phase two is go."

" Roger! Launching second wave."

The in orbit spat another flurry of metal, but this time it was not drop-pods, it as made up of slower, more heavily armoured transports. Now the battle in the city was under-way, they would be able to land under lesser fire, assuming their brothers could disable the Spiral Turrets.

Satisfied that the invasion was well under way, Irinian ordered the squad to move out, they would have to link up with their brothers who had landed nearby in the building. Then, they would make their way through the building and capture this ''Rossiu'' then, they would capture the city and make it the seat of what would soon be a new Daemonworld.

Turning into a new corridor, he saw the humans had built up what looked like a chock-point. Pathetic fools, didn't they know what the true power of Chaos could do to a being?

" Demos," he barked roughly, " enlighten them!"

The Liberian obliged with a storm of Warp-spawned lightening, searing the body and the soul. The humans screamed in agony and it was music to the Chaos Marine's ears.

" Press on! Kill for your patrons! Fight for Chaos Undivided!"

__

The burning landscape of the street light up the sky like a scene from hell. The overturned, molten remains of several armoured vehicles, the scattered bodies of the majority of the defending soldiers. In the midst of the battle, a few surviving warriors huddled against the blazing wreck of their command vehicle.

" we cannot hold this street!" Shouted sergeant Jimson into the radio, over the sound of explosive gunfire, the screams of the dying as the strange weapons tore into what remained of his men.

" Catch them in a field of fire!" Corporal Divids cried, gesturing with his rifle, " surround them and take them down. Aim for the joins where the limbs meet the body, and the neck! That armour _must _have some sort of weakness, find it!"

But, the corporal had to admit, as the thunder of rifle-fire sounded again, the bullets impacted harmlessly against the strange red armour, it was looking more and more like if they had a weakness, it was not something their current weapons could exploit. The eight giants, hefted strange weapons – Bolters, he'd heard them called. Whatever they were, they could pierce any armour, he'd seen one of them penetrated an armoured truck to impale and kill one of his men before they could shout a warning.

Sweat mixed with blood on his forehead as he waited for a reply from command. At last, that smug, self-centred voice got back to him, " Orders are for you to hold that street."

" Listen to me!" He shouted, over the screams as one of his men was picked off his feet and bodily torn apart, " This fight is lost! We're down to less than fifteen percent of our original numbers, the red-bastards have lost one man. _One! _ And that was because we hit him with a rocket-launcher, and quite frankly, we got lucky! I've seen these guys walk off machine gun fire. Our armoured support is in shreds. Command, we ether pull out now or die here, but ether way they take the street."

" Hold position, we have reinforcements on the way – Grapearl wing Thirty-four A, and multiple infantry squads. You can still win this."

Jimson felt like reaching down the line and pulling that worthless man's heart out via his throat. How dare this guy tell him to hold the line, didn't he know his men were fighting? Dying? For a miserable street, an empty, deserted street with buildings that had been constantly patched up. The life-blood of his men ran like a river, only a few left now, each death cost something more, each death was the end for a man he had trained with, had lived with.

He poked his head over the cover, saw the eight men spread out, seven of them hoisting Bolters and the eighth was carrying a massive contraption spitting flames like a dragon of ancient legend. He took aim, his rifle sitting comfortably in his grip, eyes focused on his target. The one who seemed to be leading them, the one without a helmet. His teeth filed to a point, his breath like mist. He seemed so inhuman, and yet... no, no time to think... he had his shot, he could take it, drop another one of the bastards and even the odds even a little for his side.

_Is this how it mist have felt? _He wondered, at the start of the revolution, when the beastmen seemed so huge and invincible, is this what it must have felt like to be one of the few capable of taking a stand against them? Everyone knew who had done it first, it was the great man this city was named after. He'd always been one of Jimson's favourite historical characters. If he was here, Jimson had no doubt he'd be able to pull off some kind of victory, he'd do something and it would result in a victory, Jimson didn't know what he'd do, nor how it'd work, but he damn well know what he'd say.

Jimson felt his heart sinking, how could they possibly win this? It was a nightmare! These giants were invincible gods of battle, how could a mere mortal like him defeat such as them? There had to be something, some how, some way. He wanted to take the shot, but his hand was frozen, fear had taken a cold grip on his soul.

He had to take the shot! Had to, before another of his men paid the price for it. But his hands were frozen.

A sudden intense sense of hot-bloodedness overcame him. How dare these aliens come to his world? How dare they threaten his people? He may not have been Kamina, or even a member of the fabled Dai-Gurren Brigade, but by all that was holy, he could still fire a gun!

" Who, the hell," he shouted, as he pulled the trigger, feeling his blood rush through his system, " do you think I a-"

His head snapped back before he could finish talking, the bolter round exploded and ripped his upper torso to shreds even as he toppled backwards in a rain of his own blood and gore. The rifle tumbled as it hit the ground, and came to a halt even as his lifeless remains cooled and the thunder of battle died down, the marines cleaning up the other survivors.

__

" Grapearl Wing Thirty-Four A! Status report."

Gimmy turned his Grapearl to avoid the missile as it roared past the head of the mech, he imagined he could _ feel _it as it whisked past him. In turn, he spun his mech around, carefully adjusting altitude, the weapon in his hand spitting death and practically demolishing the building they enemy had barricaded themselves in.

" Enemy position destroyed, command!" He reported, sweat running down his forehead as he scanned the immediate area for more of the armour-clad superhuman warriors. Seeing none, he flipped a switch.

" Grapearl Wing, report!"

His twin's voice, as calm as she had been since the Daemon's attack. It had become impossible to elicit an emotional reaction from her, it really worried him. He spent most of his waking hours trying to get her to talk, but it was like she'd locked him out. A deep anger burned in him like a fire, an anger to get those who had done this to her. And now, now he had his chance! His Grapearl, it seemed, agreed with him. It was moving faster, responding far better and generally, his computer clocked a 56% improvement in overall combat-effectiveness.

" Command, this is Thirty-Four, what's the mission?"

" Good to hear from you! Last we heard you were under heavy assault."

" Causalities were medium, we're still an effective fighting force. What do you need us for?"

" Perfect, because you're badly needed. Listen up, we have a scattered force of soldiers pinned down under heavy fire, they're heavily deleted and we _need _to maintain control of the area. We have infannrtry and heavy armour on route but you're the closest. Get over there, it doesn't matter how many of you get shoot down, hold that street."

" Affirmative!" Barked Gimmy. Once, he might have been bothered that the lives of his men were secondary to the mission, but now all he cared for was to inflict death on the invaders.

" Listen up, Grapearl Wing, we're need on 67th Street. We'll show these alien invaders just who the hell we are! Follow me, provide cover, flight pattern beta!"

He banked to the right, rapidly climbing and content that his soldiers were doing the same. He silently willed his mech to go faster, to reach them sooner. He would make them pay for what happened to his Darry, he would make them pay for what they were doing to the city!"

__

The battle had only been raging for a short while, but already the outer regions of the city had fallen into enemy hands. He'd lost contact with multiple Spiral Turrets, and the computer was detecting a second wave following up on the first attack.

In short, the battle was being lost. And one look at Leeron's face ensured Rossiu that he knew it as well.

The engineer shrugged, " They're just better equipped, our infantry weapons can hardly even harm them... the moral is lacking and our men just can't put up the strength required to hold ground against them."

Rossiu nodded grimly, yes, moral, that was the trouble. Seeing a blood-soaked giant, clothed in red power-armour covered in skulls and welding a strange weapon capable of punching through tank armour in one hand, a a fricking Chainsaw-sword in the other was enough to make even the bravest man think twice. The majority of their losses had been when people broke and ran from the oncoming invaders.

" If we hurry, we can still evacuate the city," said Leeron, " and we can try to fight back."

" No," said Rossiu, " we have to make our stand here. If we run now, how many people will die before we reach safety? And more importantly, the chances of us making it out now are slim to none."

" I guess you're right," Said Leeron sadly, " So we fight to the last man, huh?"

" No,"replied Rossiu, " there must be some way to turn this battle around, some trick I've not used, some plan... I know there is, but I can't think of what there could be."

" Its no use," insisted Leeron, " I've thought it through again and again, the only way we could turn this around is if the moral of the men were restored and the only one who could do that would be Simon... Simon or Gurren Lagann and we have nether. What we would need is a symbol of the revolution that brought the human race to power, something that the men could rally behind."

" A symbol, a symbol.... I could pull out the old flag we used in the Spiral War?"

" No, we'd need something bigger, a real living reminder of what we 're fighting for, of what we're dying for. Only Gurren Lagann or its ilk could possibly turn this around now."

" Only Gurren Lagann?" A thought struck Simon , and it seemed to have taken the inventor as well, they looked at each other."

" It couldn't work," said Leeron, " we haven't got it fixed yet, never mind operational!"

" We saw Gurren Lagann fix itself via Spiral Power, why can't this do the same?"

Leeron gestured helplessly, " We don't have the pilots."

" I can pilot it," answered Rossiu, " I flew Gurren Lagann." Of couse, what he neglected to mention was that he had been pretty bad at it... still, needs must, and it wasn't like he could count on anyone else.

Leeron gave him one last look, " are you sure you can do this?"

" No," answered Rossiu at once, " No, I'm trembleing, I don't know if I can even get it to move, never mind fight... But this city... this world is under siege.... and I am here to protect it."

His eyes shone suddenly, " I may not act like the others, but I am a member of the Dai-Gurren Brigade! If I don't defend this city, who will? I thought I could do it with soldiers and Grapearls but that's failed.. . I guess it comes down to this.. we need to inspire our men and only Gurren Lagann or its kin will do. Well we don't have Gurren Lagann."

Here, Rossiu withdrew something small from the safe in the wall, it was the highest security and Leeron gasped seeing it. It was cracked and blunted but there was no mistaking it, a core-drill.

" We don't have Gurren Lagann," Rossiu repeated, his eyes alight, " But we do have Lazengann."

__

Fifteen minutes later:

Chaos, dark powers swept through the spiritual realm just as the fallen Marines attacked the ''real'' one. Here, the name of the game was to currupt the mindss and souls of the people, who even with the natural protection provided by their Spiral energy, would soon be overrun and turned to worship the Dark Gods.

If, that is, they were not defended. Someone was defending them.

Lord Genome would have been gasping for breath, had he a body. He would have been beaten and bloody and tired, sweat pouring off him like a river. One did not stand up to the full force of a Chaotic assault on a whole city without taking the brunt of the damage, for a lesser Spiral it would have meant death, or worse, curruption. Even he, Lord Genome, was finding it hard to hold his own in the wretched sea of darkness that now invaded the Spiral Shield.

But he couldn't give up, couldn't let it win, if it did, the Spiral Shield would shatter and that would be very bad. If those people thought it was bad now, just let them see what it would turn in to if he let it. An army of Daemons rising from the Earth itself, he could feel them clawing at the shield, waiting, watching. He was getting tired, and when you are a creature subsiting solely on Spiral Energy, getting tired is [B]not[/B] a good sign. For the first time, he was starting to doubt he'd be able to hold the Shield together, and because he doubted it, his energy levels fell, making it all the harder to continue the fight.

Then, a flickering light in the darkness, a torch of searing emerald light cutting through the evil blackness of Chaos to reveal... to reveal... No, it could not be... Genome would have shook his head, if he had one, but rather, he found the words said themselves in his mind. It was impossible, improbable, it could never happen, and yet, if that flash of power was anything to go by, it had.

Like an old friend, returned one last time to fight beside him, like a mechanical guardian of the Spiral Race, like the last hope of Kamina city, he felt the surging of power that could only be made by one being in all of creation.

"Lazegann."

* * *

AN: Ok guys, I have to admit, I was somewhat disappointed by the reception of the last chapter -- specifically, the lack of a response. I got one review.... One.... Its not that I'm annoyed as such, its just that I think it reflects badly on my writing. If I can't elicit a response -- even one telling me who bad I am at writing -- what does that say about me? About all the time I spent writing this?

I would expect a few reviews, even ones just saying ''good job, see you next chapter'' but to tell you the truth, nothing discourages me writing more than not receiving a response. Flames? I can live with flames, they make the story look more popular, attract new viewers. Criticism? That's the best I can get, it tells me how to improve, I _ love _criticism. But when I don't get anything? That's the worst I can possibly get. I'm not saying I'll abandon the story, but I tend to work faster when inspired and when I'm constantly wondering if I've failed as an author... well you can guess how well _that _goes.

So, for this chapter, if you spot any mistakes, any problems, or even just to say ''good job'' please, review. It will help me work faster and thus, get you another Chapter faster, everyone wins, right?

Anyhow, for the one person who did review:

Lord of Murder says:

Bloody awesome. Two of the most awesome pieces of fiction combined, surely this is too much awesome for one fanfic?

Thanks, I take it by your review that you're new to this fic? Well if you liked it so far... the rest will blow you away... Orks? Necrons? awesome fight scenes against even opponents? Maybe even, Gurren Lagann fighting an enemy with more brute power than it? I think its safe to say, many surprises are in store.


	9. Lazengann, Awaken!

AN: It has come to my attention that the last Chapter has something of a plot-hole in the form of the weapons used by the Spirals. Apparently, while ballistic weapons are in use, Spiral Earth also has access to Spiral bullets (For a shotgun at least, and probably various types of weapons.) This necessities a rewrite which I will do after I post this chapter. So don't be surprised if things don't make sense until you reread number 8 ( Or, if you want me to out it bluntly, the only real change is the Chaos Marines take more losses. They're still dramatically winning the greater battle however as a human even with a powerful weapon, is no match in terms of speed, reaction time and strength ( Not even counting the various mutations that Chaos will have gifted to Demos and his comrades.) I'm just sticking this AN here in case people get confused.

**Chapter 9: Contact **

**Part 1**

''_The limit of a man's reach is as far as he dares to go! That's why a man can do so much, because he dares to do the impossible!'' -- Kamina (Attributed)_

**Black Ship Shadow of Grief**

**On route to Terra**

The impenetrable darkness closed in around him like a sea of gloom. Pushing against him with an almost real form, like an ocean, it surrounded him, engulfed him; chocked him.

The dank room he knelled in was filled with such a palpable sense of despair, that even the Anti-Spirals, though they were now all but gone, would surely have approved heartily, especially if they learned about its purpose. It was small, dark, there were stone walls, or it seemed to be stone, in any case. A ward had been drawn on the floor, and it burned with an unnatural brightness that somehow could not pierce the equally terrible blackness. Chained in the centre of the ward, by many thick, snake-like chains, a boy; forced to bow. The chains too, gave off a soft, easily missed, illumination. Behind him, the only door was thick, strong. Desgined to withstand against the most Daemonic of pressures and attacks. If you were there, you would be unable to get out. You would not even be able to try, the massive aura of despair, accumulated over the years and heightened by the ship's cargo was enough to rapidly flood a human as a boat would be in the storms of Armageddon. The boy was being forced to bow and pray to a idol on an alter before him, that of the Immortal Emperor. It as well gave off a glorious light, sealing this place against Daemonic incursion and attack. Such religious seals and idols, did not always work. Judging by the pair of combat-servitors that waited, motionless, against the far wall. They were high quality, the very best weapons and armour. Two hulking giants ready to crush the poor boy at the first sign of unusual activity.

The ground below the lad was wet with tears of fear, and his wrists were bruised and cut where he had tried to free himself. Outside, four more of the giant Servitors waited, calmly, for their mission to become a necessity, and after them a squad of elite warriors, ready to simply empty the room to vacuum if nothing else worked. This was a high-risk prisoner, normally, of the people they picked up, there would be many who would become sanctioned Psykers, or in some other way serve the Imperium. Not this one, his potential was too great to be easily controlled, and rather than risk his fall to Chaos, they were putting him to what use they could. He would be used to feed the God Emperor, his soul little more than sustenance for the Father of Mankind.

Though despair swamped the boy from within and without, and tears ran down his face, he had -- perhaps as a final line of defence -- crafted a kind of mental fortress for himself, against which the waves of despair crashed and dashed themselves to pieces. Like a tiny island in a sea, he hung on grimly. Fear was bad, because fear stole away the part of you that thought, that planned, it stopped you thinking, it made it impossible to escape. Fear was the mind killer, and he would not allow it to rule him.

A pity then, that his powers were so great. His mental discipline and grim refusal to accept his fate would have made him a perfect candidate for a Sanctioned Psyker, or even an Astartes Liberian. But for a cruel quark of fate, he might have been headed for a better life right now, rather than the death that he knew awaited him. _Might _await him, but wouldn't. Because he was going to escape somehow. It seemed a tiny, fragile hope, one quickly crushed by the armoured boot of reality, but it was all he had. So, he kept hoping, kept looking for a way out, any way. He questioned himself, questioned all he had ever been led to believe in. If the God-Emperor was so wise, why then was he going to be killed? He knew that some sacrifices had to be made to maintain humanity, but had never thought that one of those sacrifices was going to be him. Yet he had been raised to believe that the Emperor knew everything, why then wasn't he stepping in to save Erik?Why then was he leaving him to die? But the God-Emperor _did _care for mankind. He had learned that early, taught by his father before the attack, or by his brother or sisters, they had always said their prayers and he had been totally sure that the Emperor would never let anything bad happen to his family.

What had happened to them? His father was hacked apart by Orks, his brother and sisters conscripted into the Imperial Guard and he, little Erik; always the youngest, always the brightest, was chained down on his knees, in a Black Ship, heading for his certain doom. If He cared so much for mankind, why had he let Erik's family be slowly torn apart? Why? The words ran round and around in his head until he wanted to scream then into his throat was sore, sometimes he did but it never seemed to help. The intimidating forms of the combat-Servitors never so much as twitched, their grim faces gazing at him. Lifeless, soulless. Had this happened to them? Erik knew that Servitors started off as humans, had they been on a ship like this, bound for a fate like his? Had they gone through this as well? Prayed as he had, desperately sought, if not rescue, then at least an answer? Had the God-Emperor ignored them too? But this just brought him around in a full circle, because if the Emperor had not stepped in to save them, why would He do so for Erik? Except, Erik wouldn't need help, he would escape. He would do it all on his own, and he'd do it soon. Any minute now.

Any minute now.

__

**Fifteen Days Earlier **

Space glittered with the combined fire of the Ork ships as they showered the single remaining Strike-Cruiser with a hail of erratic, miss-aimed shots . Parts of it were already cracking and breaking away, the engines were dead, and though it bravely fought on, the end of this battle was clearly in sight. Great gauges ran through the proud ship, and fire vented from various wounds in her pitted hull. She was a dying predator, but even at this stage, she fought back like a cornered lion. Round after round thundered from her weapons, showering the enemy in a far more accurate barrage of fire. Against any other ship, it would almost certainly have inflicted massive damage, perhaps even saved the ship. Not here, not against these particular Ork crews. It is said, that upon reach a certain point, a young Ork will instinctively lean towards a certain aspect of war. In this way, we have Kammandos, Tank Bustas, and Wierdboyz. This natural process of selection had been at work on the crews too, though here there was no predetermined name for the cast that found themselves working on the ships. They were not even, technically, a true cast. Their knowledge was not ingrained in their DNA. They were a motley, mismatched crew of Mechz, Boyz, Nobz and anyone else who had been there when it first started, when WHAAGH!! Gork-Mork had been born. Of the original battle, and original tribe, only the crew survived and they had never said what they had seen -- or indeed, what kind of ships they were piloting. Though the _Wrath of Gork, _and the _Wrath of Mork _looked fairly ordinary, by Ork standards, they were not. The reason why these ships could take on ten times the damage that their brothers and kin could without even a noticeable drop in power? No one had said, but there was a rumour, floating around the WAAGHH below that the two ships were built upon a core foundation that had been given to Warboss Killan by Gork and Mork themselves.

Inside the besieged Strike-Cruiser, the horde of Orks had grown substantially and were now quickly overrunning the defenders. A small group of Astartes, led by a Chaplain called Illu were making for the drop pods in an attempt to escape, but even if they made it, the chances of the pods managing to reach the planet were slim to none. They had never been designed to travel the void, and though they carried a crude propulsion system, it was very likely not up to the task. The Orks on the other hand, were having the time of their lives. Fighting against the predominantly Astartes crew, they were able to let loose in a way they weren't often able to against mere humans. Human died easy, Space Marines didn't.

Into this raging, pitched battle, flew the Grapearl wing, designated wing ''A'' they were seventeen strong forming a triangular formation as they closed, the Arc behind them was pulling back, but trying to keep in range so as to provide cover. In the centre of the formation, Gurren Lagann, a living banner for the Spirals to rally around.

Simon worked busily in Lagann, alone with his thoughts. As the flashes of battle came closer, he had to wonder. Was he doing the right thing? Risking the lives of these men to save people they didn't even know? Bro wouldn't have hesitated, he would have been straight into the fight like a shot, they could have used his help today. But he was gone, and Simon was standing alone, a leader, a hero for the men and woman around him. He had got them into this fight, and he would get them out of it!

The battle was almost upon them now, Simon briefly considered scanning for communications but it was hardly likely whoever was here would be using the same equipment as them, and besides, Viral would notify them if anything important cropped up.

" Simon," Viral's voice from the Arc, " the fire-power these things are throwing around is crazy -- Gurren Lagann might survive a direct hit, but none of the Grapearls will be so fortunate. Watch out."

" Got it," Simon had never really expected this to be easy, " All pilots listen up. Those shots are very strong, don't let 'em him you."

He grinned to himself, feeling the surging Spiral field of the battle as the pilots got fired up, they were coming into range now, the blasts sailed past the Grapearl wing, one unlucky pilot took a glancing hit, fireballing in an explosion of searing flame and throwing the rest out of formation. Simon's face paled for a second before he overrode it, someone had died, but he had known the risks when he came. His death was a terrible thing, but it wouldn't do any good to get scared off now.

" _That's the kind of thing Rossiu would say" _A tiny part of him seemed to speak, he ignored it, they were in range now, the Grapearls opened up with their heavy weaponry -- derived from the same gun originally designed to fight the Anti-Spirals, it had been hastily modified by the techs and the Arc's production abilities had allowed them to outfit most Grapearls with one. Now, they roared, the onboard computer systems of the Grapearls timing it perfectly so that the vivid emerald flares fired in unison, raking the nearest Ork vessel in a hail of fire. It lurched, raining debris from its stricken side, the guns stopped for a second and it was as if the ship was in shock, then it returned fire. A storm of ill-aimed projectiles rushed to meet the Greapearl wing -- Simon saw another one of his men die in a fiery explosion, but the rest were too good -- Rossiu had sent only the best pilots. Aided by their advanced computer systems and the limited amount of Spiral power they could produce naturally, they nimbly avoided the attack, though Simon had a nasty feeling they wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.

Now, Simon was zooming towards them, Gurren Lagann's left hand extended,drills ready to meet enemy hull. Simon wasn't a bloodthirsty murderer, he didn't want to kill people if he didn't have to. And he didn't know why those ships were bombarding the planet in the distance, or who lived there or why they'd started it. So he wanted to take the ships intact and with as little death as possible. Gurren Lagann touched down on the outer hull of the giant ship. Here, it was plain that whoever had put it together had not had a defined plan -- there were patches of armour, wildly differing in the type and manufacture, the hull had a sort of wielded together and the gun platforms seemed to be cobbled together from whatever the maker could find. Look! Was that a turret sprouting smaller turrets like some kind of plant? And here was the wheel of what looked like some kind of Jeep sticking out of the hull. The whole thing was painted red with splotches of blue and green. Just what kind of manics would build something like this? Well OK, bro would probably have liked it but who else?

Almost from the second he touched down, Simon felt strange. It was a tingling sensation that he'd never felt before, but it got under his skin. He didn't know what it meant, if anything, so he blocked it out with a mental effort and got back to the business at hand -- finding some way to disable this ship. There were no hints here as he would have hoped, and it was distracting having to dodge the enemy fire while he worked.

There had to be something, some fuel line or control circuits or something he could cut to take down this ship. But sweat was beading his forehead and his reactions were almost not enough on several occasions he barely avoided an oncoming salvo.

More and more of the guns were turning on him now and Simon began to wish he was piloting a higher form of Gurren Lagann, but no, he wouldn't risk the lives of everyone on-board the Arc without a real reason and this didn't count. So he was stuck here, trying to find a way to disable the ship without killing it -- another blast ripped past him and he evaded it, damn it, were the gunners insane? What normal person would fire on their own ship just to kill a single enemy? And the storm of fire was increasing! This seemed incredible, stupid.... it was just like Bro would have done!

And the closer he got, the more he hugged the hull, the worse and harder to block out the sensation got. It wasn't even purely physical, but there was a mental component. The tingling reminded him of something, but what? _What? _Pushing the matter aside for now, he turned his full attention to the task ahead of him.

Gurren Lagann leapt and dodged, only Simon's superior talent and not a small amount of luck keeping it from the majority of the thunderous fire. A massive gun emplacment was fac ing him, he realized with a jolt, and he had time only to throw the arms of his mech up in a cross position and take the hit.

It barked, the attack rushed through space, luck, or Spiral Power was with him, and it scored only a glancing hit. But it was still a weapon designed to take on other capital ships and inflict great damage to them Gurren Lagann jerked back, tumbling and bouncing on the hull, metal shards were ripped from its body and the interior flashed red. Simon groaned, disorientated and dizzy, _What did they fire at me, a nuke? _He shook his head, vision swimming. It cleared and he almost wished it hadn't, he'd landed right in the line of fire and smaller three turrets, looked like they had been designed to take on fighters, were now locked onto him and about to discharge their load.

Simon braced himself, but it would be no good, one hit had already shredded most of Gurren Lagann's outer body. Luckily, the internals had escaped any real harm and Gurren Lagann could still move and fight, but great gaping wounds had been ripped in the chest, the rift arm was barely functional. The signature pair of sunglasses that covered the grinning face on its chest had been shattered. Maybe if he jumped he could clear the area fast enough to avoid most of the damage? No, they would still get him.

" Damn it," He muttered, the lights were still flashing on and off, he would never be able to get clear fast enough. But he hadn't gotten to were he was now by just giving up, if he couldn't avoid the attack he'd drill right through it! Drills sprouted from Gurren Lagann's arms and he rushed forwards, daring the turrets to fire.

They did.

__

" Damage up to eighty percent! I'm pulling back!"

" They got my wingman -- one shot and he's dead, what the hell are these things?"

" Simon! Where's Captain Simon? I can't reach him at all!"

" They clipped me! I'm outta control, somebody hel-"

" Second wave, where's the Hell is our second wave?!"

The babble of combat was broadcast to him through the coms, but Coll ignored it with a cold detachment. People were dying out there, good people. He didn't so much as blink at their demise. He couldn't afford to. Time later for that, now was the time for action, for battle. The wing had been broken up in the storm of fire, it seemed with the two church-ship-things disabled and one boarded, the attackers were turning their attention to the Grapearl pilots. The pilots did their best, fighting as low as they could over the hull to minimise the chances of taking a hit, but even then with their current numbers it was clearly a losing battle. More people died every minute and they had lost contact with Simon. He was probably dead, thought Coll emotionless as ever. He was probably floating in the cold of space, surrounded by the twisted wreckage of his beloved Gurren Lagnn. Good riddance, people like him had their use, certainly, but they were supposed to be subservient to those who knew what they were doing. Hot-bloodedness was good, but it had to be tempered with patience , with the ability to plot and plan.

Coll had those abilities in plenty and now, as he launched another volley of Spiral beams at the gigantic form of the nearest ship, all his skills were being put to the test. He avoided another salvo -- just -- the two Grapearls near him weren't so skilled, they died in a fiery bloom.

_Situation's not good, _he thought to himself, calmly taking aim at and blowing away one of the bigger turrets on the enemy ship. _Not enough numbers, not enough power. _He knew the MK2 Spiral Cannons as the new weapons were being named, had the piercing power to punch through the armour on those warships -- heck if he wasn't mistaken, his own had impaled the thing nine times so far -- but because they weren't to cause fatal damage, they couldn't just end the fight and the ships were proving remarkably hard to damage. Oh they could punch holes in them, make them look like a pin-cushion, but it didn't actually _do _anything. The ships still shot back, still functioned despite everything they could throw at them.

" Form up and attack again," he barked. He wasn't actually in charge, but he had learned early in his life that if you speak clearly and sound like you know what you're doing, most people will find themselves doing what you say. Especially in a situation like this one.

" Just what's holding these ships together?" He wondered to himself.

__

The building rocked and Rossiu found himself thrown against the far wall, the roof gave an ominous rumble and he wondered if it would fall on them. That would be a fitting end to him, wouldn't it? Survived the rebellion, survived the Spiral War, killed by falling roof. He gave a grim chuckle. It was a reaction to the stress, he knew. And right now, he was very stressed, the building was being overrun, the Spiral turret system had mostly fallen silent, and now the fighting was down to hand to hand, street to street. It was a bloody, close ranged affair, and one that the invaders seemed particularly suited to. Oh, the Spirals were making kills sure enough, Spiral enhanced bullets had quickly proved a match for the armour of their enemy, but the invaders was superhuman in their reaction time, their strength. Many troops had routed upon being engaged by the giants and Rossiu really couldn't blame them. Worse, there were already several of them in the building, fighting their way through it and slaughtering anyone who came into contact with them.

In short, the battle was quickly turning into a massacre. Command was compromised, people were fleeing from the building in droves, and Rossiu had sent Leeron with them, now, he stumbled through the darkened corridors, knowing that at any minute, the invaders, the Chaos Space Marines, they were reported to call themselves, would be upon them.

He was the city's last hope then. Everything he had tried up to now had failed, the army were being decisively crushed, the Grapearls had been successful for a while, but were now facing intense resistance as the invaders brought their heavy armour into play. This was no mere raiding force as the last one had been, this was a full planetary invasion.

Rossiu stumbled through the corridors, the building seemed to shake and rock, and he knew that it might even collapse soon and that would be that. The last hope for the city buried under sop much rubble. He couldn't allow it, he wouldn't. Though it might not have seemed it, Rossiu had always done what he felt was best for mankind. Even when it wasn't the best for him.

A sound in the next room, Rossiu's grip tightened on the hilt of the pistol he held in a shaking hand. It seemed so small to fight off Demons or worse, but he had it loaded with Spiral type ammunition and knew that it would be able to surprise anything it came across. His bodyguards, six in total, also paused and listened.

_Not now, _thought Rossiu desperately, looking around for some kind of cover, any cover at all. But there was nothing, if the enemy came upon them now, it would be a quick and one-sided fight. He couldn't fail now. Rossiu had a duty towards mankind, he led them, he didn't know how they'd gotten into this, or why the Chaos Marines kept attacking them but he knew that it was down to him to do something. In a way, he'd always known it would come down to this, even when he saw the strange, corrupted sky for the first time. When Simon and co returned to the limelight, he'd hoped they'd be able to do it without his help, Rossiu had never really fit into the Dai-Gurren Brigade, and, deep down, he had always known that it would eventually come down to something like this.

His left hand gripped the Core-Drill tightly, it wasn't like Simon's. This one was different slightly in appearance, did they all differ or was it just that this one, Lord Genome's, had fallen from grace at the same time as its master? They would probably never know, not unless they could unlock the other Lagann type mechs they had in storage and it didn't seem that would be happening any time soon.

The bodyguards gestured to move and he did so, quickly, he knew that a face to face confrontation could only end in his own death. He couldn't die, not yet, he still had to save the city, to give the people a banner to rally around, to give them something to fight for.

It often seemed to people that Rossiu was less hot-blooded than the other members of the Brigade. This was true, but what they often failed to appreciate was that Rossiu also possessed an iron will and determination on par with Kamina himself. Now, he had focused it all on one goal, one objective: survive, make it to the room.

They pressed on, through the dying building.

__

Demos growled angrily, " He's moving again, this way now!" He gestured to the side and his battle-brothers knocked a hole in the wall to allow passage.

" Ether he knows we're following him, or he has a last trick up his sleeve."

The Chapter Master, resplendent in his ancient, Terminator armour growled, " I don't care which, this ends here. We kill him, offer his soul to the Dark Gods and claim this world for our own! Press on."

They soon picked up his trail again, following eagerly, Demos prepared to confront and obliterate whatever guards Rossiu might have about him. He wasn't worried, there had been reports of the humans using special weapons which would certainly be of vital interest to the few Tech-Marines who had possessed wisdom enough to embrace the darkness, but to him it only made the job of killing them slightly more challenging.

" We're close now," murmured Demos, " We're very close."

__

Gimmy's Grapearl crashed into the building with massive force, debris rained down upon him and he had to struggle to pull himself out. Alarms beeped and red lights flickered on to indicate the various risk and perils of remaining true to his chosen course of action. He ignored them.

" Grapearl Wing report in."

There was nothing but the static of the universe, and he growled, " Report, damn it, is anyone alive out there?!"

Fear dug at him, _Darry. _Surely she hadn't been caught too? But no one was reporting in, he had to assume the worst. Even as the icy terror gnawed at him, he had to continue to fight and hope that his twin would be able to survive on her own until he could help her.

The image of the battleground flickered back into existence as the computer rerouted several of the circuits responsible for an optical view. Before him, the thing that had opened fire with such accuracy and power. It was a strange thing, a turreted car... no, what had they called it? A tank? Yes, did they have those? Gimmy had never seen one before in his life, but something about it just clicked. It had launched a barrage of ground to air missiles, swarming the Grapearls and destroyable some, scattering most of them. As they lost control of their engines.

The Whirlwind, though Gimmy did not know it as called as such, had been inherited from the Chaos Marines' Imperial past, and had been refitted to engage air targets, rather than its usual objective of providing artillery support. Even as he watched, two more thundered into view from behind buildings, and with them, two of the squatter, more deadly things Gimmy had come to know were called ''Predator Tanks''.

He stood up, weapon in hand and took aim, Spiral weaponry was easily capable of punching through the armour on these things but he could only get off one shot before they tore him to pieces.

He cursed, the same feeling of helplessness that had haunted him since Darry's brush with the Daemon coming back in full force. He couldn't die now, his twin needed him, the whole world needed him. Kamina wouldn't have given up, even though Gimmy had been very young when the man died, he knew with an iron-hard certainty: Kamina would have found a way, would have beaten, gone beyond the possible into the impossible if he had to.

Well, if Kamina could, Gimmy would too!

The Grapearl lunged forwards, firing a the Whirlwind responsible for the ambush, it died in a hail of green light, the others opened fire and Gimmy cried out as the Grapearl smashed harshly into the ground, light flickered and went out and a single inescapable conclusion formed in his mind: He was helpless.

__

" Fall back! They've got the gate, fall back to stand by position." The head of Rossiu's bodyguards ordered calmly, fitting a new magazine into his pistol. Ahead of him, the red-armoured superhumans returned their fire, the narrow corridor was filled with death and he knew that if he tried to move now, he would be as good as dead.

That thought... didn't particularly bother him. He had always known that he would die in service to the government, and he was only glad that the sacrifice he was providing would path the way for Rossiu to pull off whatever he was planning.

_Death comes for us all_, he thought simply, _and the best we can do is meet it with a grin. _

Farther down the disputed corridor, a heavy metal door had been locked shut, it opened to the lab where Leeron had been working on the Lagann mechs, and, on the head off Lazengann. This small, Lagann-like construct was hooked up to numerous wires and devices, it was cracked, the canopy split and broken, inside, the controls were a charred mess, the Spiral gauge just about visible and the hole for the Core-Drill amazingly unobstructed.

Rossiu crouched therein, one hand on the Core-Drill, the other, what remained of the controls. He was breathing deeply, the sounds of gunfire were near now.

He took a look at the gauge. It was empty, void of all power, he would have to fill it. Could he? That was a question that had been nagging at Rossiu ever since the plan occurred to him. He had piloted Gurren Lagann, but always Simon had been there to provide the majority of the power. Now he wasn't. Now Rossiu was on his own, and if he couldn't do it, if he failed now, his whole life would be meaningless, he would be killed or worse, the people who lived in Kamina city would be slaughtered, and he was sure the entire planet would then fall into the hands of the Chaos Space Marines.

It all came down to this, could Rossiu muster the power to activate the machine, and cause it to self-repair? He knew that the majority of the body that had formed Lazengann was off-premises in a special research lab. But Gurren had come when Simon needed it, he could only hope and pray that Lazengann would do the same for him.

There was a damp sound, a body hitting the floor. They were close now, and Rossiu had to act fast. Without another thought, he drove the Core-Drill deep into the indent and braced himself for the surge of power.

Nothing happened.

Rossiu paled, _No! I can't let this happen! _He pulled it out and repeated the action, drove it in again summoning all the Hot-Bloodedness he could muster.

Nothing continued to happen.

Despair washed over Rossiu and he felt his heart sinking, he slumped back. The sound of battle was very close, and he had no escape. He would die here, the human race would die here, all because he couldn't use Lazengann, all because of him.

It was like being back on the Arc-Gurren, realizing that all that had happened had done so into the Anti-Spiral's hands, only worse. Because back then, at least he hadn't known of it, at least, the fault could not be said to be of his own making. Here, however, the problem was entirely of his own manufacture, he could not power Lazengann, and because he couldn't, he had doomed the city, and quite probably, the planet.

He reached for his pistol, he could at least take a few of them with him. At least make sure he didn't go alone into the dark.

" _Giving up so readily, Rossiu?"_

He practically jumped out of his skin hearing the voice, he looked around wildly but there was no one here. He must have imagined it then.

" _So easily swayed from your course of action?"_

That time he knew he hadn't imagined it, but it was impossible! It couldn't happen! Still, it must have, because that voice was burned into his mind like no other.

"L-Lord Genome?"

"_The very same."_

" How are you talking to me? Where are you?!"

" _That is not important right now. You cannot pilot Lazengann because the Spiral Recognition System will not allow you to, just as the Cathedral of Terra would only work for me before I changed the settings, so too will Lazengann refuse any other pilot."_

" Then use it! Lord Genome, we are dying out here! The invaders are too strong for our army, we need a symbol! We need Lazengann."

" _I cannot, as I am now, I subsist entirely on the Spiral Energy produced by living being, I have none of my own. I cannot power Lazengann."_

The deep pit of hopelessness and despair opened up to swallow him again, " Then we have no hope."

" _I did not say that. Listen closely, I cannot continue to speak to you for long, not without a massive engine of Spiral Power active. Lazengann will not accept a pilot unless I am near. I am near, I will aid you, but you must provide the power to activate it. Just power it, and Lazengann will do all that is needed."_

" I tried," said Rossiu softly, " I cannot power it... I am too weak."

" _Weak, Rossiu? I think not. I studied you, you know, back when I was first activated as a biological computer. You were always one of the more interesting rebels. Because you seemed so much like myself when I was young. You have the makings of a mighty Spiral Warrior, and trust me when I say that you can power Lazengann."_

" But Simon, Kamina and Kittan --"

" _Were very different from you, it is true. Do you think we Spirals are all as hot-blooded as Kamina? Think we plan as well as he? No, Rossiu, there were more types of Spirals than you could ever know. Smart Spirals, dump Spirals, powerful ones, ones almost too weak to power a Ganmen, Spirals that liked to plan and Spirals that would charge into battle without thinking. How did you think we fought against the Anti-Spirals so long if we were all Kaminas? If we were all so hasty? No, Rossiu, I speak with the most experience of any being still living in this universe, you **are **a Spiral. If I had to select any living Spiral to power Lazengann, it would be you."_

" Why me?"

" _Because, you are so much like me. You do what must be done regardless of how it will effect yourself. That is a kind of nobility, you seem so much like what I could have been if things had turned out differentially. Now listen because time is short, you are a Spiral, Lazengann will respond to you as if you were me. Because you are so like me, it will have little trouble subsisting on your energy. Now, one more time, Rossiu, take your Core-Drill, drive it into Lazengann and you will feel the surging, coursing Spiral Energy. You will have will have seen the birthright of all Spirals, and you will know what it means to defend mankind."_

Shaking and trembling, Rossiu rose the Core-Drill into the air one last time. He knew that if he failed here, it would be the end for him, the end for all mankind. He could not fail -- no, he would not **allow **himself to fail! He drove the Core-Drill into the machine.

Nothing.

He felt as if the earth had dropped out from below him.

" I- I'm sorr-"

Then, in a searing burst of emerald power, Lazengann came to life.

__

Kamina city was illuminated by a flash of light, all felt it then. That strangle tightening of the muscles. For the defenders, it was an inspiring sight, urging them to fight on, to never surrender, for the Chaos Marines, it was pain. Incredible pain. Only one knew what it signified, Demos, who had felt it before.

Then, in that single flash of light, the administrative building finally gave in, collapsing in on itself with a roar and a rising cloud of debris, everyone not out by then was presumed dead. At this particular point, no one cared. Because standing there, amongst the wreckage, outlined by the fierce light. A single black-clad figure. Arms crossed.

Across the city, Beastmen cried out in shock and awe, for they had seen this figure before, and not a one of them did not whisper in panicked tones ''Lord Genome''.

And for a minute, it did indeed seem that Lord Genome had risen from the dead to defend his planet, but then, every screen or radio still intact winked on, and Rossiu spoke.

He had to say something to rise their spirits now, something to rally everyone, what would Kamina say? What would Simon say?

" With these hands we built a life for ourselves!" He roared, over TV and radio, " We once lived underground, in caves, we only dreamed of going to the surface. Now we live, breath, laugh and love here! Now we build cities, send ships to space! We go beyond what we once had! Because we can. Because we must. We -- all of us, human and Beastman -- band together for the greater good, we always look ahead, always build, always improve! Now these guys think they can just push us over and take our planet?

" Who the Hell do they think I am?! Rossiu, a member of the Dai-Gurren Brigade. I fought to free our world once, and I wont see it enslaved now! Lazengann, a Spiral Ganmen, designed to defend Earth and the Spiral race.

" We're going to show them, the power of humanity!"

* * *

Compass West:

Heh. Awesome. Gurren Lagann is one of the few universes that could hand 40k's collective asses to them. Keep up the good work.

As a side note, what about Orks? Spiral Energy seems tailor-made to suit them, since they are some of the most hot-blooded creatures out there.  
Something tells me that the next Ork Gargant is going to be a lot more powerful...

Heh, lets just say that the Spiral Energy in regards to Orks will be...spectacular.

spidtyfan

great story as always...you know i've been thinking... wouldn't it be just awesome for simon to be one of the lost primarchs of the EOM (like the 21st or something)... imagine an entire legion of marines using spiral power...FIGHT THE POWER!

Perhaps, but that is not a story I could write. I think I'll content myself with this one.

Zap Rowsdower

Awesome. Pure, unbridled, awesome. Well done, my good man. Someone's needed to take that grey-and-black cosmos down a peg. You are my hero

Thanks! I tried to make things as equal as they would be though... its just that TTGL is generall superior when it comes to high-end feats than anything in 40K.

Garrelt

good story mate keep it up

Thanks and I will.

Isak922

That sucks that you only got one review last chapter... I did read it, and quite liked it; but was in a bit of a rush that day and didn't get a chance to review =\

However... This chapter was good! Some of the usual typos and such, nothing detracting; but just being a nitpicker here =P. Even one of the HTML tags didn't translate correctly towards the end.

As amusing as it is to read about Chaos Marines ripping paper bags... Err... Humans to shreds; I'll be quite a bit more amused to read about the Grapearls and LAZENGANN owning some Traitor Marine ass!

Oh... and Attenborough's scene was just made of win. He has a new favorite toy (For now) I take it? =P

And back on the topic of Lazengann... Rossiu piloting that, while Viral and Simon pilot Gurren Lagann? On the same battlefield, THAT is quite a scary thought, and I fear (and pity) for whatever they have to fight... It may even be too much AWESOME for one fanfic o.O...

Yeah, that chapter was a low point for the fic... luckily a good amount of reviews have been sent in since so everything's awesome now.

Lord of Murder

well this chapter certainly dosent dissapoint. I loved the invasion of Tepplin in this chapter and i'm really looking forward to Lazengan opening a can on chaos next chapter. I don't know why this fic dosen't have more reviews.

I hope you liked Lazengann's entrance, it took me a few tries to get it right.

Aarik Wrath

I wonder how the Imperium is going to respond to Cathedral Terra... The absolute largest ship's they have are around 650 Kilometers, Cathedral Terra is around 30-50 Kilometer's (The Diameter of the Moon is about 3400 Kilometer's, and Cathedral Terra is more stretched out, plus we see Chouginga Gurren Lagann sitting on the moon in Parallel Works 8, it's bigger.

Someone once did an estimate and if the Moon was hollow, there would be more space inside then on the entire surface of the world, and all 6.7 billion people of the world would easily be able to live inside, and have room for more ten times more.

Or hell, Arc-Gurren Lagann, A multi Kilo metric Titan whose head stand's above the clouds. That can fly. The biggest they have are a few hundred meter's, in the measurement's the max Titan size is 100 meter's, but we've seen images of bigger, but it's safe to say they have no Titans more the 500 meter's tall.

And Tengen Toppa... is 100 times the size of the Galaxy they are currently in, The Milky Way Galaxy is 100,0 light year's in Diameter and I think at it's thickest in the middle 10/20,0 light years, TTGL is 10,0,0 Light year's tall.

The largest galaxy we have on record is 6,0,0 light years in diameter.

Wathing People Reactions to the hilariously impossible is always entertaining. Even better with some Awesome on the side.

Good job.

Thank you, and yeah, its always funny watching people react to the impossible.

I wonder how the Imperium is going to respond to Cathedral Terra... The absolute largest ship's they have are around 650 Kilometers, Cathedral Terra is around 30-50 Kilometer's (The Diameter of the Moon is about 3400 Kilometer's, and Cathedral Terra is more stretched out, plus we see Chouginga Gurren Lagann sitting on the moon in Parallel Works 8, it's bigger.

Someone once did an estimate and if the Moon was hollow, there would be more space inside then on the entire surface of the world, and all 6.7 billion people of the world would easily be able to live inside, and have room for more ten times more.

Or hell, Arc-Gurren Lagann, A multi Kilo metric Titan whose head stand's above the clouds. That can fly. The biggest they have are a few hundred meter's, in the measurement's the max Titan size is 100 meter's, but we've seen images of bigger, but it's safe to say they have no Titans more the 500 meter's tall.

And Tengen Toppa... is 100 times the size of the Galaxy they are currently in, The Milky Way Galaxy is 100,0 light year's in Diameter and I think at it's thickest in the middle 10/20,0 light years, TTGL is 10,0,0 Light year's tall.

The largest galaxy we have on record is 6,0,0 light years in diameter.

Wathing People Reactions to the hilariously impossible is always entertaining. Even better with some Awesome on the side.

Good job.

KaiserDrgn

Fuck yeah! About time we get some Lazegann action!

Hope you liked his grand enterance.

Brain Boru

Awesome chapter man. Looks like Rossiu is getting a slight case of the hotblood himself. I'm guessing that Attenbourough is the one always mashing a laser button in the original series, blond Afro and glasses if I remember.

Please for all that is holy keep up the good work.

No worries, I'm not abandoning this story! Its just nice to seem like people are reading, you know?

Biigoh

Well, I have been keeping track of the fic... and it IS awesome. Do you know how rare it is to have a cross-over that works? You've got that here. Granted, I know what you mean about the silence being discouraging, as if you're shouting into an empty pit that just takes it and does not respond. But know that you are not alone, that your tale is being enjoyed...

Thank you, and yes, thank you all for sending in so many reviews this chapter! I'm sorry I couldn't get it finished earlier, stuff came up (don't ask!) And I had to rewrite, but here it it.


	10. Gurren Lagann Unleashed

" _A man's spirit is always greatest when he conquers despair. Because despair is the ultimate enemy of the Spiral, so Spiral Power is the ultimate rival to despair."-- Simon (attributed) _

Through the burning battlefield, there came alight a brilliant shooting star. Bright enough to detract from the pitched fire-fight between the Grapearls and the Orks. Bright enough to draw attention from the planet itself.

Inside the Arc, watching from afar, Viral paled as he ordered magnification on the burning wreck that made up the core of the fireball. Gasps and cries of despair came from all over the bridge as the officers saw what they had all feared.

" Simon," hissed Viral.

Gurren Lagann burned as it fell across the sky, Ork weapons tracking and exploding against it again and again. It rocked and seemed to be disintegrating. Trademark sun-glasses were shattered into a million pieces, its right arm had been totally ripped apart. The red armour had been cleaved and torn and twisted by the continuing force of the Ork barrage. Innards exposed and even Lagann had been blasted away from the main body and now drifted freely in the debris field that surrounded the fallen mecha. It felt like the bottom had dropped out of his world, this couldn't happen. Not to Simon; Simon was like Kamina had been. Invincible, always able to pull ahead in the last instant. But then, Kamina had died too, hadn't he? Viral had been there, though he had not known of his rival's death at the time. Kamina had died because he had been caught unaware and had suffered for it. Had Simon fallen the same way?

" Simon," he said again, putting more strength into his voice, " Simon you bastard, don't let it end this way!"

__

Coll let out a bitter laugh as he saw the wreckage of the fabled Gurren Lagann floating freely through space. So this was how it ended for Great Supreme Commander Simon, was it? Dying in the cold of space as his men were mowed down around him. Coll had to admit that it fit. He thanked whatever Gods might be listening that it had ended this way.

The Grapearl numbers were low now, being cut down with extreme ease. They'd lost heart, seeing Simon so diminished. While it was true that out of the entire Gurren-Brigade there was only one who had earned Coll's respect, the pilot knew what he had to do to pull their formation back together.

" Grapeals to me! Form up and give them Hell for Simon!"

At such an emotional point as this, the pilots could have swung in one of two ways. Seeing the loss of their venerated commander, they could have lost all hope. They would have fought on, but with nothing to truly fight for they would be easily picked off and obliterated. On the other hand, they could fight on more bitterly than ever. Throwing everything they had at the enemy in an attempt to avenge their dear captain. This was the option most likely to lead to Coll's survival and was thus the one he nudged them towards. By reminding them that Simon had to be avenged, he had given them something to focus on and fight for; as much as he would have liked to simply turn around and leave, he knew that it wasn't happening. Besides, Rossiu had entrusted this to him and he would not fail.

__

Inside Lagann, it was cold. Air was being forced out of a small chip and Simon seemed ether to have been knocked out by the initial impact, or dead. This was how it would end then. Lost, alone, in an alien galaxy and surrounded by a field of his own debris. This was the end. .

Simon's eyes snapped open, if you looked into them, you would see twin spirals

" Like Hell it is!"

A harsh emerald light filled the interior.

__

Outside, Lagann twitched, Spiral energy poured from it like water from a burst dam. At once, the remains of Gurren responded. Rejoining with Lagann and powering out of the field.

Simon watched as the nearest Ork ship approached, cannons turned and barked at him, but he dodged between them. " Enough is enough," he growled, " I tried to take you alive, but if you're going to slaughter my men and try to kill me, you can forget it."

A new arm sprouted from the broken socket in Gurren's side, sunglasses reappeared in a flash and all damage was banished, Gurren Lagann picked up speed. Simon felt the building Spiral Power like a flood, enhancing everything from his fine-control of Gurren Lagann to the speed of said mech.

" We didn't want to kill anyone," he growled as the ship neared, it was desperately trying to turn away now but he was too close, " we didn't want to join in this war. But you leave us no choice. If it comes down to a choice between you or mankind,. I'll go for mankind every time! I'm going to end this fight right now! Giga Drill Breaker!"

Gurren Lagann ploughed through the Ork ship like a hot knife through butter; nothing could slow or stop him. Armour gave way in under a second, he didn't lose any speed at all as he punched through to the other side trailing flames. Turrets bombarded him even as the ship lurched to the side, bleeding fire like arterial blood. Simon turned and surveyed the damage he had inflicted. Gurren Lagann crossed its arms and watched as secondary explosions dominated the _Wrath of Mork _ and for a split second, it was outlined by blinding, emerald energy. Then, it blossomed fire and died. Disintegrating in a storm of shrapnel and bodies.

Simon turned again to glare at the _Wrath of Gork_

" Still wanna fight us?" He transmitted to it.

To his genuine surprise, the ship turned and fled. Turrets pounding back at him, but with the usual lack of aiming, none even got close. Apparently it had taken more damage than they thought, it limped slowly away and the Grapearls turned to give chase.

" No," Simon ordered, " let them go."

The squad-commanders obeyed, albeit reluctantly. Now he turned his attention to the strange church-ship that still floated nearby. Simon could tell it had been boarded.

" Looks like the fight's not over yet."

__

Magos Urlin of the Adeptus Mechanicus watched from the capital of the besieged planet. His agumented eyes pressed closely into the viewing-glass of a gigantic, heavily modified telescope. It was bronze and pictures have been carved into it depicting the first coming of the Mechanicus to Alom and the role it played in their glorious history. Prayers to the Machine Spirit of the 'scope and to the Machine God itself were also plentiful. Incense burned and mixed with the smells of oil and machine-lubricant in a strange aroma that was said to be very pleasing to the Omnissiah. Urlin didn't even notice it. He was too caught up with what he was witnessing. It was impossible, incredibility, he didn't know what he was seeing, but he did know this: That machine that had crushed the Ork ship so decisively, it was clearly a very powerful construct. it had performed feats that he would have sworn no machine could do. Not only had it continued to function when so heavily damaged, but actually able to repair and rearm so quickly. What was more, it had done so without the touch of the Warp. Urlin specialized in Warp-study. A rare and quite frankly, dangerous occupation. Even fellow Magos found him unsettling with his pale skin, and the way his augments always seemed to work at a slightly higher level than they should. Unregulated modification of any machine was a crime to the Machine God and to the Mechanicus. It was not tolerated. Though there had never been any proof, there was always the lingering rumour that Urlin had done so to his own upgrades.

" Amazing." He said simply. Turning, he saw the meeting of the planetary governor, his staff, several high-ranking Magos and the commander of the PDF as well as Skitarii. " Impossible though it may seem: they did not utilize any Warpcraft that I can detect."

Magos Yalan, who concerned himself with construction and repair work normally blurted a question in Binary, the language of the Mechanicus. If it were translated into Low Gothic ( Or for that matter, English) It would have went something like this:

" **Praise to the Omnissiah! Can you confirm/deny that it is nominally on our side. "**

Urlin replied in kind, **" Nominally on our side, it has moved to aid the **_**Crimson Warrior **_**Strike-Cruiser. I have made several confirmations: No Warp taint of any kind. Of course, it could be hidden and I would not know until I was able to examine it closer. No need to worry the Governor and his aids: we will deal with that when/if it becomes necessary."**

" **There was a surge of some kind of energy," **Yalan continued, **" Do you have any plans concerning said outburst and how to detect and determine exactly what is was?"**

" **The outburst bore a striking similarity to a controlled Warp-Energy explosion."**

" **Then there is a fairly large probability it is a pawn of the Archenemy."**

" **Confirmed. A 78% chance to be exact. However, a 22% chance that it is not corrupted is a large enough probability to risk. It is clearly a Titan of some kind, but I have no memory of any such model. What's more, going from demonstrated feats it is very powerful. It is imperative that we find out from where it came. Perhaps its origins will shed some light on the time before we rose to prominence."**

" **You believe it could be a remnant from the Dark Age of Technology?"**

" **It seems logical. Many technological devices have survived from that era. It could at least be traced back to as STC."**

" **An STC? A Titan STC?"  
**

" **Most probably." **

" **Such a sacred STC must not be allowed to slip from our grip. We must tread carefully. "**

" **Agreed. Even if it belongs to the Archenemy, I doubt we could stop it from assaulting the capital."**

" **And if it is controlled by Chaos?"  
**

" **As I said, we will deal with that when/if we have to."**

The entire conversation was carried out in a series of short, sharp sounds and took much less than it would have to speak it in the common tongue.

" In Gothic," snarled the Governor. Normally he would be showing much more respect but right now his planet was under siege. He felt he was allowed a bit of leeway. " not all of us can understand that demented language of yours."

" I apologise," Urlin said smoothly and with no trace of offence. " I was simply remarking upon the wonderful machine that has appeared above our heads."

" Is it a threat?"

" Negative, I can find no trace of Archenemy corruption. It appears to be clean. Of course, it could still be a threat. Just not one sent after us by the Warp."

The planetary governor sighed to himself. Now this was a conundrum. They had been saved by a strange titan-like machine. He personally had never seen anything like it, the way it had ripped through those Ork ships as if they weren't even there... The second one had been lucky to retreat before it turned on it as well. But what exactly was ''it''? And more importantly, why was it fighting to protect his planet? What did it stand to gain? It did not serve the Imperium, for it bore no markings to that effect. So why help them? Cros, the governor, had long since reassigned himself to the fact that it was a cold, uncaring universe. The Ork, the Eldar, and the Archenemy, all these and more would gladly overthrow mankind if they only could. The God-Emperor was all that stood between mankind and total destruction. The lives of most people were short and tended to end painfully in the out of the way planets like his. In closing: it was a cold, harsh place to try and survive. No one helped you unless they wanted something. Logically then, this titan must want something, but what? What could they offer that this machine could not simply take on its own? He had seen that fight, the machine had easily torn through that Ork ship, the one that all his men and resources had not even been able to dent. Worse, the titan was not alone. According to the Mechanicus, there were many more of the strange mechs in orbit. They did not seem to have the raw power of their leader, but Cros was under no illusions of grandeur. At this point, he wouldn't have been able to muster the power to stop them taking the capital itself if they wanted to. _Maybe_ back before the war with the Orks, when his world was still fresh and strong, and he still believed in the innate goodness of man. But even then, that Titan would have been an extreme threat.

So then they had little choice, they would bend and bow and scrap. Stuff the superiority of man over al Xenos lifeforms. Such an attitude would probably get him killed by the Inquisition or even a Witch-Hunter, but none of those were here right and and that titan was. They could kill him later, but right now he would have to survive the coming days. As far as he could see, thought Cros gloomily, the only silver lining was that the titan might be convinced to aid them in the battles. His commanders told him that if its power was as high as they estimated, it would be able to break the Ork strongholds and finally free his world.

That was, assuming it could be used for their cause. If it didn't aid them, then the chances of victory were not good. The two Space Marine strike cruisers had been the only orbital support left to them after so long fighting the enemy, now that both were crippled or destroyed.... Well they'd lost one of the only things holding the Orks back from simply overrunning them via sheer numbers. As if to add to his mountain of woes, the Ork fleet still lingered in orbit, though they had ceased their bombarding of the planet and were giving the new arrivals a wide birth.

Things had just gotten so much more complex, it was like a sea or wave, rising to drawn them all. It was a wave he would have to stay on top of, else it might just end in the destruction of his cities and the death of his people. Despite appearances, Cros did indeed have a strange kind of loyalty to the Imperium and to his species. He knew he could not expect reinforcements for a good long time. Therefore, he concluded reluctantly, the fate of his world rested on the strange titan look-alike and whether if chose to harm them or help them.

Could things possibly get any worse?

__

The twisted, metal corpse of the _Wrath of Mork _descended through the atmosphere. Burning as it went, raining melted metal and ashes that were once corpses. A brilliant shooting star to match the one Gurren Lagann had formed during its own brush with death. Except that the _Wrath of Mork _didn't run on Spiral Power, for it, there was no last minute burst of hot-bloodedness. No surge of power, no instant reconstruction of damaged components. The Orks that had crewed the ship, all survivors of the WAAAGHHS beginning were dead. No one had survived.

Almost.

A small, heavily modified Fighta Bomba could be seen plummeting amongst the wreckage. It had detached from the main body almost as soon as the _Wrath of Mork _hit the upper atmosphere. It was being piloted by an Ork Mek called Gungu and his ''friend'', Morkna also a Mek. The bomba was the combined result of a lot of secret work; they weren't important Meks, they were the ones who did as they were told, the ones who fetched and carried and did as commanded when a Grot wasn't around. They were the lowest of the low even amongst other Meks. They'd never built anything that worked. They just couldn't do it. It is said that an Ork's abilities are hard-programmed into their very DNA. If that was so, then Morkna and Gungu had gotten their DNA tangled up, because they couldn't build a choppa to save their lives. Couldn't rewire a shoota, couldn't do even the most simple tasks that most Meks did without thinking. Until now, until the Bomba. It had taken the months to scrounge the parts, even longer to get it working. A lot of Meks could of done it in half the time, but they didn't care; they'd done it, they'd finally created something of their own. Now it had saved their lives.

"-- Shoulda grabbed that part from ol' Grubface" Gungu was saying as he piloted, totally uncaring that their ship had been destroyed and their companions killed. It wasn't that he didn't care, it was just that he was an Ork, he lived for the now. He'd avenge them if he could, but until then he wouldn't cry about their deaths. " The third turbo's zoggin' crazy."

Morkna didn't answer, he was looking at the blank wall with an expression of total bliss. As if he finally understood something that he had sought his whole life to understand. As if he had been struck by a sudden insight, as if the heavens had opened up and Gork and Mork descended from them to grant him this one gift.

That image was stuck in his head, replaying again and again and again. He couldn't get over it, always the same. Always that humie machine ripping through the ship. That sheer power it had displayed, the speed and strength and utter ruthlessness... it was like waking up and finding that your worst enemy had stolen your best weapon, it was like.... it was like he'd been blind all his life and now he could see. He had a Purpose. He had a Reason To Exist.

That machine, Gurren Lagann. He didn't know how he knew it was called that, just that he did. He didn't question this knowledge, why would he? Orks of all casts were used to simply knowing things. Admittedly, he wasn't a very good Mek but even he had to have it in him somewhere, right?

Gurren Lagann.... Suddenly, he knew something else with the same certainty he had known that name.

" I gotta build me one of dem!"

__

Kamina city burned with a hellish, red flame. Great tongues of fire licked up around the buildings, feeding upon the bodies and ruins of civilization. Survivors streamed into the core of the city, which was still mostly intact and functional. Damage control teams were being mobilized to deal with the encroaching flames. Here and there, the flash of weapons fire as the last remaining invaders were forced back. It was a victory, though a bloody, costly one. The Chaos Space Marines were now in full retreat all over the city, Lazengann having turned the tide of battle. Of course, Kamina city was but one stage; war waged across the surface of the Earth. Contact had been lost with all cities and it was suspected that the invaders were jamming them. One final wave of enemy forces were still in the process of pulling back; they had arrived late, later than the tanks, later than the infantry.

The titans had been meant to even the balance, four Warhounds, the entire titan force belonging to the traitor marines. Now, they lay, smashed and ruined at the feet of Lazengann. The two that still functioned fled like the rest, and for now, it seemed that the city was safe.

The ruins of the administrative building had been left unchecked for now, with so much more important things to do. It was a nightmarish place of broken bodies and piles of rubble. Nothing could survive there unassisted. The operative word here of course being ''unassisted''.

Demos pulled himself out of the ruins with a groan, feeling his broken arm complaining, his wounds trailing blood. Having reached the open air at last, he breathed in deeply and allowed himself to collapse for a minute while his augmented body dealt with the damage done to it.

There were no other survivors of the assault on the building. Chapter Master and all, they had been lost. Now, surveying the battlefield, it was clear that the battle was going the same way. He coughed, ignoring the wrecking pain that filled his body as he did so.

_How could this happen to us? We are Astartes, the true Astartes who serve the true Gods. How could you let us down, my Lord? How could we be defeated by such a primitive enemy! _

But he knew, it was because of the black titan that had appeared just when the battle seemed to be going their way; Lazengann. His Vox had been operational the whole time he was digging himself out, and he'd listened as slowly, the battle slipped from their grasp. Lazengann had done it, the name summoned shivers to his spine the way that ''Gurren Lagann'' hadn't. Gurren Lagann was a target, an enemy to be fought and destroyed. Demos and his kin had bested Titans before, it wasn't easy but it was possible. Lazengann... wasn't like that. Even its appearance was different. Dark colouring, a menacing exterior and such shocking power and brutality. When Gurren Lagann had attacked, it had used drills, Lazengann did the same save that its weapons were like it; deadly and a thousand times more feral-looking. Sharp and black, they looked designed to kill and do little else. If Demos hadn't known better, he would have sworn that Lazengann bore the touch of the Warp. But no, it had not been so blessed. It virtually _hummed _with that other power, Spiral Power. Channelled it and shaped it, ignoring reality in place of its own.

Gurren Lagann was deadly because of its sheer power. Lazengann was more deadly because it seemed to _know. _Demos had never believed that machine-spirits were particularly powerful, but Lazengann's seemed almost a living thing. He had felt it during the battle, when the machine activated and the building was torn apart. A living, pulsing creature bathing in the energy generated by the Spiral. Did Rossiu know what he had awoken? Did he know that Lazengann possessed a will of its own?

Demos felt strength returning to him, the blood had coagulated now and he was able to move without too much pain. He would need specialist help upon his return, but for now he was as battle-ready as he was ever going to be. He spotted an alleyway and headed for it, his armour was cracked and burnt, his mind dull and clouded. He would not relish a battle in this state, besides he absolutely had to survive. Because he bore important information, information that could shift the balance of this whole war, it could effect the very Chapter itself.

He knew now why the Lord of Change, his patron, had allowed them to be defeated. Knowledge, knowledge as power. If they had been victorious, if they had won so easily, Lazengann may never have been awoken, they would not know what he now knew. They would have defeated an enemy at great cost and therefore been diminished.

Now, they would defeat that same enemy, and become all the greater for it. The proper rituals would have to be put in place, the sacrifices to the Dark Gods made. Then, they would return and engage, again, Lazengann would rise from the city to defend it.

This time they would be ready, because Demos would be there on the front line directing the hideous power of the Warp against Lazengann. Not to destroy it, never that. No, his new-formed plan called for something even greater.

Lazengann's ultra-powerful machine-spirit would become a weakness, Lazengann had a will of its own. Its own set of desires and likes and dislikes. It had a soul and a heart and a mind. Or at least, that was his theory. They would soon find out. Because if Lazengann had a soul, it had a mind. If it had a mind, that mind could be clouded and directed by the Warp. If that mind could be directed, it could be corrupted.

Lazengann would be under their control.

* * *

Later, Buddy

For the love of the God-Emporer and The Great Kamina-sama!! UPDATE! I know I'm being impatient but I want to read the next chapter.

Sorry it took so long, here's your update!

ORE WO DARE DA TO OMOTTERU?!!

My friend showed this fic to me and all I can say is MORE MORE MORE! Please update soon!

Just did, and I;m glad you find my story so good.

Yamado

Spectacular story, can't wait for the next chapter or when the other races are introduced to our Spiral warriors.

People have woundered if the Eldar have noticed their presence in the Eye of Terror? With all of that chaotic energy around them and a human's natural ability to defy an Eldar's predictions of the future, it seems doubtful that they were forseen beyound a "distubance" (and by that I mean uncorrupted area) in the Warp though depending on if they are close enough those on the craftworld Ulthwe may have detected them.

Also how would a Spiral being react to a human Pariah who are like blackholes in the Warp and cause all Psykers in their area to go insane?

I won't say much as it would cause spoilers, but trust me here. The Eldar have noticed. And in fact, knew this would be happening for quite a while. Yes, they do have a plan to deal with it, will said plan work? Well, you'll have to wait and see.

A Spiral Being would simply react the same way a normal human would to a Pariah. Warp and Spiral Power are not the same, I am playing up the similarities in this fic, but there are still crucial differences. Enough that, while a Spiral would be effected, it would only be in the same way as a none-Psyker.

Akuma no Mi

AMAZING! I love Gurren Lagann and Warhammer 40k and you perfectly capture the manliness and morbidness of each series in ways that can you perfectly reflect in your words! I am disappointed that there are so few reviews to your work but such is life.

I wounder if you are going to compare the different races to Spiral and Anti-Spiral races, such as the humans and Tyranids being Spiral races that threaten to bring about Spiral Nemisis, The Necrons being an obvious Anti-Spiral race, the Orks (near unparalled growth but no development/evolution), Tau (expansion but little... expression?) and Eldar (evolved but so few and dying) all having imperfect Spiral attributes.

Well like I said, I have plans for the Eldar, and the Orks, well the Orks.... we've not seen the last of them.

Vect the Atoner

So... If the Tau made an appearance, would they be the Anti-Spiral race? I get a feeling that they'll probably be unable to tap into Spiral Energy like others since the Tau philosophy seems to run counter to Spiral philosophy.

They wouldn't be Anti-Spiral so much as repressed Spiral. The ability to use Spiral energy is inherent in all being so long as they can reproduce.

Lord of Murder

epic. with lazengann's awakening you really managed to capture the feeling of the show it was incredibly well done. I'm also interested to see what will happen between the orks and simon. looking forward to it.

Thanks, I was trying quite hard to capture that feeling.


	11. Demos

The sun was setting in the Warp-touched sky as Demos made his slow way across the ruins of what had once been an outlying town. The pain he had felt earlier had faded now to a faint, but persistent annoyance. Though this was mostly due to his body's enhanced reactions and not a small amount of his own abilities being used to minimise the pain. The Librarian was under no illusion: he was in a bad way. Worse than he'd thought at first. it felt like the fused plate of his ribs had been fractured, multiple broken bones, internal bleeding, ruptured lungs, a human would have dropped dead a long time ago. For an Astartes? Well it was all in a days work. Even if that work was for Chaos rather than the Corpse-Emperor.

The fading light cast by the dying sun seemed to summon hell-spawned shadows, playing around the ruins. They seemed to flicker and dance and move under their own power. Demos knew it was all just a trick - the shadows were being cast by the burned husks of buildings, the piles of rubble, the metallic supports jutting out of wound-like crevices in the surviving structures. Despite all this, he found himself moving with a strange kind of apprehension. Annoyance flared, he was a Chaos Space Marine, damn it. He wasn't scared of an empty town. Demos had hardly ever been scared in his life - even before his transformation in the name of the heretic Emperor, he had been a child of little fear. From what he could remember, people had always called him brave, courageous. In truth, Demos had been none of these things. He had shown so little fear because deep down within his very soul, he knew that he was always the most fearful thing in the room. he had been a Psyker, even while none-active, and he had known it on some level. Fear was not an emotion that regularly touched him. Because he had always known he was in no danger. He had always been the most powerful, the most in control.

Then the Blackships came.

Nothing was ever the same after that. Taken in chains, forced to bow before a statue of the Emperor and surrounded by high-powered wards. Though he had not known it at the time, his life had been weighed, two paths lay before him, one led to his death, nothing but a sacrifice to a Carrion-God. The other, led to salvation. He had been chosen to become a Space Marine. Chosen was the word, he had been given no choice. And he excelled at it, his powers were always under control, bound tightly by his iron will. He'd gone from strength to strength - he might even have thought of himself as ''happy'' if any Astartes could be happy. His true moment of triumph, though, had of course been the day when the scales fell from his eyes, and he was made aware of the true nature of the universe and all that it contained. Chaos, it was all chaos to one extent or another. After that, well what was the point in fighting it? he'd given in and joined the True Gods of the Warp.

_What was the point in fighting?_

_The point of fighting was to fight, struggle, struggle until the end. Never give up. _

Demos blinked as the unfamiliar thoughts raced through his head, putting it down to the pain and the slight fuzziness that was a by-product of his pain-dampening he moved on. The town was burnt and barren, here and there a body still lay on the ground where it had fallen. Ironically, the bodies worried Demos far less than the feeling he was getting. It was like, something was about to happen. Something big. He'd felt like this twice in his life - once as a young child before the Blackships, and then once again as a Space Marine Librarian several months before his eyes were opened. Sometimes being a Psyker was as much a hindrance as a help - he knew what the feeling meant, knew it with every fibre of his tainted soul. But what did that mean? Something important was going to happen, soon. But what? When? Where? why? Would it be good for him and the Chapter or bad?

None of the answers were revealed, and Demos simply resolved to continue as he had planned, taking over Lazengann would be a difficult process, if the Machine-Spirit was anywhere near as powerful as he suspected, it would fight him every step of the way. He would have to utterly grind it down until its will was no longer separate from his - a challenging task at the best of times, but alone all but impossible. He would need the help of the other Blessed Librarians of the Chapter. He would need to research, and see if anything of this scale had been attempted before - out of memory, the closest he could think of was when the Thousand Sons tried their luck against a Titan. It hadn't worked out well for them... And the only reason he knew _that _was because Demos did not consider himself as tightly bound to his Chapter as many of his battle-brothers. He had painstakingly acquired contacts within most of the major Chapters and Legions. He would need to know more before he preceded in this business. A twinge from his ribs reminded the Astartes that he would need to heal as well before he attempted anything as difficult as this was likely to be

Then there came the distinct sound of a Thunderhawk and he spotted it coming in from the horizon. A Chapter ship, sent to collect him. It had come as something of a relief to the Librarian when he was able to restore Vox contact with his battle-brothers. He hadn't been talking long but he had heard enough to know that serious changes were being worked and without him there to keep an eye on them, he wasn't sure if mighty Tzeentch's share in their Chapter would be honoured or cast aside. If the wrong man ascended to Chapter Master things could get... hairy.

Filled with fresh determination, Demos set off at a jogging pace. It sent needles of agony blasting through hos body but he simply ignored them and pressed on. Any Astartes worth his salt wouldn't let simple pain stop him. Not now. Not when he was so close to ultimate victory.

Out of habit, he extended his senses ahead of him, trying to gain an inkling as to which brothers had been sent to retrieve him - such information was part of his business. Knowledge was power, even limited knowledge like this: knowing who had been sent would tell him what was expected, knowing what was expected would clue him in to more information. Particularly a question that had been nagging at him since he first recovered consciousness. He knew as a fact that the Chapter Master had died, he'd felt it, it had stung. The sheer surge of Spiral Energy had earthed itself in the bodies of his battle-brothers, it had killed them - not on purpose, he was sure. It had simply attempted to purge them of Warp Energy. The Warp had fought back and their bodies had not been up to surviving the resulting struggle of energy. Demos himself had felt a minute of absolute pain as the same happened to him, but he had survived this before, he knew what to do. Slamming down mental barriers, he was able to limit the contamination and therefore, reduce the stress that was put on his body. It hadn't been perfect, and most of his injuries were the result of that struggle for dominance, but at least he was alive to feel the pain. The question then became, who would have succeeded the Chapter Master? Off-hand, he could name several factions that might be able to, but no definitive candidate. Who was in charge would drastically effect how his plan was received and implemented, not to mention the reception he himself would receive. Some factions would love nothing more than to see their Patrong rule the Chapter with Tzeentch pushed aside, discarded like a used bolter-shell. No, he would allow nothing of the sort. He was a loyal follower of the Change God. He had a plan for this - Demos had a plan for everything. There would be many opportunities for him to grow in power and rank, profiting from the death of their leader. If he was careful, and played his cards right then he could see himself promoted to a position of great power. After all, wasn't it he who had discovered how to bend Lazengann to their will? Wouldn't he be the one to corrupt it and taint it and have it serve himself above all others? Just think of it! A titan. no more than that. At his own beck and call... It was a dream come true, with such a power backing him and popular support of the majority of the Chapters Demos could almost certainly make it to Chapter Master. Of course that did mean that the current one would have to be...disposed of... but like he always said. Demos had a plan for _everything. _

The wandering tendrils of his mind met heavy resistance - he jerked to a halt, old instincts forcing him to duck behind a ruined wall, blackened by fire. Had they seen him yet? They must have detected him. Damn. His hearts sped up as a small part of him tried to rationalize what he had felt. Surely they weren't intentionally blocking him out? But the rest of him knew with a cold certainty that they were blocking him on purpose. If the recovery team had been issued with that kind of technology it could mean that one of the factions that didn't support him had gained power over the Chapter. Worse, that they knew he would oppose them and sought to end that here and now.

Disgusted, Demos sent out more probing tendrils. Like a many-limbed beast he searched gently, teasing the layers of the mental defences he found raised against him. Primitive, he decided almost immediately. Likely cobbled together well in advance, before the assault on the city... Demos felt a small flash of pride that they had found him enough of a threat to prepare for in advance, as well as a larger amount of anger at the traitors who dared to strike out at one of their own. The fact that only a few seconds before, Demos had been plotting to kill the new Chapter Master didn't change things in the slightest. Demos was a follower of Tzeentch, plotting was what he did. If he didn't plot what kind of follower would he be? Lower than the lowest cultist, lower than even Chaos Spawn. Plotting was his way of honouring his patron. If he were honest with himself, the fact that he had been plotted against wasn't what got to him. What got to him was that he had been plotted against and _hadn't noticed. _ That stung a wounding blow to his pride. Still, he would rectify that now. He couldn't feel their thoughts, but he could count the number of marines. Six all told. One squad then. Probably hard-core loyalists to the new Master. He gathered his strength, drawing upon his connection with the Warp to bolster his waning determination. He would not run; the way ahead lay forwards. If those traitors thought to stand in his way then that was their problem. He would drill right through them and take the damn Thunderhawk. And if he didn't know how to fly one so what? He could rip the memories from one of them. Would delight in doing it, in fact.

Betrayal was a sin Demos took very seriously.

Another blitz of emerald orbs screamed at him and Lazengann shuddered under the impact, Rossoiu threw the left foot back to compensate and over-balanced, for a second there was nothing but a fearful sense of vertigo. Fear pulsed through him, but Rossiu controlled it easily and with a few hurried alterations, Lazengann was back on its feet. The two Grapearls shot forwards, one provided a smattering of covering fire while the other drew its close-combat knife-like weapon. It powered towards him as Lazengann leapt into the air to avoid the first attack. Suddenly Grapearl number one shifted aim, striking Lazengann's left arm with enough force to throw the spiral-mecha into a spin as Grapearl number two to meet it. Normally, Lazengann would have been able to lung forwards throwing the mecha off balance, following by a smart strike to the arm to disable the knife and then a finishing blow to the cockpit. Not now. Disorientated by the spin Rossiu reacted too late and the knife slashed a long, but superficial rent across Lazengann's dark coloured armour

Rossiu grit his teeth, forcing back the dam's worth of Spiral Energy just waiting to flood into Lazengann's ready form. This was about control, not sheer power. Rossiu had already decided that if he was going to pilot Lazengann he would do it his own way. Not Simon's. Raw power and determination mixed with hot-bloodedness were good but he had taken what Lordgenome said to him to heart. Just because he was a Spiral didn't mean he had to be a Kamina. Rossiou decided that his way would be one of fine control.

Rossiu had always been different compared to the others. Kamina, or even Simon drew instinctively upon the great reserve that was Spiral Power. This was their strength; their core. Because they did it without thinking there was no time for doubts; no time for worries or to ponder what might go wrong. Only time for action. Rossiu could easily recall many times he had seen this demonstrated; Simon's near-total manipulation of space/time while piloting Gurren Lagann, the red-mech's ability to sprout drills at will and for them to do things that by all rights, drills had no business doing. If Rossiu was truly honest with himself; such an effortless manipulation of Spiral Power had always made him slightly jealous. He was aware that as a human, he too technically counted as a Spiral, and indeed, had drawn on the power of the Spiral several times in his life but he'd never really _felt _it like Simon and Kamina had. He could call on it, but his doubts always suppressed his power. Not even self-doubts! Sometimes he wanted to cry, he really did, it was so _frustrating. _ The kind of mindless bravado that had ultimately got Kamina killed was the best way to draw out Spiral Energy. But Rossiu's careful plans and cunning strategies could only call upon the minimum amount!

After his first contact with Lordgenome, Rossiu had found himself thinking long and hard about this; he had wondered if he had it in him to even be a real Spiral Warrior. Oh, he could pilot Lazengann in the short term, but did he have what it took to keep it going? If he ran up against impossible odds would he be able to keep fighting or would sheer despair drag him down where nothing else could? Such doubts tormented him endlessly, and so, Rossiu, the only central authority on Earth spent his time indoors coordinating the defence of his world. Defeat after defeat was his reward for such an effort. The invaders were simply better on a ground level; while Spiral ammunition could be used to penetrate their armour, their speed, reaction time, and power were all far in excess of anything Rossiu had at his disposal. On the other hand, Grapearls had proved themselves time and again, forming rapid assault squads and raids capable of penetrating deeply into enemy territory. They had fought successful rear-guard and evac missions all over the planet and even been instrumental in the retaking of several cities and population centres. But they had met their match in the roaming monsters, ''Titans'' they were being named for their size and power. Spiral-powered Grapearls to kill one if they acted fast, but a single titan was capable of wrecking havoc on a squad or more of Grapearls if they weren't careful. Indeed, only one titan had been killed since the assault on Kamina city and that one had been taken down by Darry and Gimmy.

All this narrowed down to a single conclusion, one factor that could shift the outcome of the war from ''bad'' to ''good''. The masses needed a rallying symbol; Gurren Lagann would be best but Lazengann was also good. This was the power behind Rossiu's desperation to learn the controls and be the best he could. Every minute he _wasn't _the best more people were dying... killed in battle or massacred or even sacrificed to the Dark Gods of these new invaders.

An image formed beside his head on Lazengann's screan. Gimmy's concerned looking face peered down at the Supreme-Commander with worry in his eyes.

" Rossiu maybe we should stop here, you're getting really good but you can't learn everything about fighting in a few days."

Not so long ago, Gimmy would never have used Rossiu's name so easily, but the boy had been changed by the Daemon that had rampaged through the city. He had hardened, steeled his heart and become a real warrior. His apparent inability to protect Darry weighed heavily on him and he had thrown himself into just as much training as Rossiu. The two had even become kindred spirits of a kind. Forced on, not by their own will but by their obligation to others.

" No," Said Rossiu simply, hands sweaty on Lazengann's controls, feeling the steady pulse of the barely contained Spiral Power. It was like a creature, always fighting to be free, always trying to break Rossiu's control. To unleash a storm of Spiral Energy the likes of which only Lordgenome could have controlled. Rossiu refused to allow such a thing and instead forced it to fight on his terms. He almost imagined he felt resentment in the movements of Lazengann; as if they were not as fluid nor as smooth as they could have been but that was a silly thought. Who ever heard of a machine being resentful?

" No," said Rossiu again, " I'll not finish until I can do this."

" Rossiu you'll only hurt yourself if you fight harder." Said Gimmy, " Rest a while and come back."

" No," growled Rossiu a third time, fire entering his eyes as he forced Lazengann to its feet yet again. He knew he could do this; he felt it in some ancient part of his soul. Maybe Lazengann felt it too. After all, Grapearls were the technological descendants of its rival, Gurren Lagann. Maybe it wanted to win as much as he did.

Rossiu thought of all the death that had come to his world since the dawn of the red sky. He thought of all the death that was still to happen. A part of him rebelled against it, it rose arms, it screamed at him to not allow it. To stand in the way and protect the helpless.

" I'll stop when the invaders stop killing. Have they done so yet?"

Gimmy lowered his eyes, thoughts dancing back to his own failures as a pilot.

" No."

" Then I will not stop. Now come at me again with everything you have!"

Elsewhere, the Arc-Gurren floated peacefully above the planet, the Space Marine Strike-Cruiser had self-destructed before help could arrive. Dead Grapearls floated around the arc; grim testament to the effort of the Spirals.

Inside the Arc-Gurren it was a sullen victory. Not many had expected the first battle in this new universe to hold such a high cost; yet inside each of the survivors burned a tiny sun of inspiration. Gurren Lagann. The name flowed through the corridors of the ship with ease. Gurren Lagann; it was why they hadn't all been killed. Gurren Lagann; it was their leader.

Coll lounged in the mess-hall. Conversation rippled around him; many topics but the two most common he knew very well indeed.

" Pathetic," he commented to no one in particular, " they're all so happy that their ''glorious leader'' Simon is still alive and kicking that they're forgetting all the other poor sods who kicked the bucket during that fight."

The crowd steered clear of Coll and his squad-mates, giving them an entire table to themselves as they sat and ate. Some people are just born trouble and Coll was certainly one of them. He ate alone, despite the five men at his side.

He felt disgusted; remembering the battle and how it had nearly turned to a defeat the moment Simon had fallen. Coll had no great love or desire to preserve life other than his own but even he held himself to a certain standard. He felt such distaste as he recalled the events of the battle. So much death for what? For a world they didn't own populated by people they didn't know? If Coll was in charge it would have been different; it wouldn't have happened for one thing. Leave 'em to their fate. They probably deserved it anyway. But oh no, Simon the Digger had to play hero to a people he didn't even know!

So they'd lost good men and Grapearls for what? For brownie points? For public relations? The bitter taste in his throat grew and he felt like he was eating clay.

" Maybe it would have been better for us all if Simon had died." He muttered to himself.

It was overheard.

A figure strode over to his table, rifle strewn across her back and demanded, in a harsh tone, " WHAT did you just say?"

Coll looked up lazily into the eyes of Yoko Littner, he knew that a lot of the crew held her in awe as she was one of the original members of the Dai-Gurren Birgade. Not him, to him she was just another pit-check with a rifle who'd got lucky and made it big.

" I said that it would have been better for us all if Simon had died in that fight."

Yoko flushed with suppressed anger, Coll felt himself privately chuckling at the ease with which he had elicited such a response from her.

Yoko looked for a minute like she wanted to reach down and grab him or shot him or punch him. Coll was reasonably certain she couldn't do any of these things. Though it didn't pay to take bets so he was ready to dodge just in case.

Yoko practically growled at him -" You should watch what you say about Simon."

Coll yawned theatrically, " Threats? Please, I know your type. You're the tag-along, never did any actual word, but always there to share in the glory. Let me ask you, just how many Ganmen did you kill during the Beastman-period?"

She contrived to turn even redder, " I don't know what your problem is, but you're lowering morale by putting down Simon so don't do it again or else, do I make myself clear?"

He grinned, "Crystal."

Yoko stalked off, and Coll felt the smug sensation of victory - she'd wanted to address his insult, he'd seen it in her face but she hadn't. She was trying to appear restrained, in control.

But he'd get her. Sensing a new project to work on, Coll wondered how long it would take for him to cause Yoko to visibly crack.

ORE WO DARE DA TO OMOTTERU  
2010-05-29 . chapter 10

It's been four months! PLEASE UPDATE!

*sigh* Anyway, I finally got around to reading Xenology by Simon Spurrier. Did you know that Eldar have TRIPLE-helix dna as opposed to a human's double-helix. Right there that should make them a super-spiral race. I think.

Just food for thought.

And... updated.

I should really thank you, as it was your review that finally budged me into writing the rest of this chapter and posting it. As to Eldar DNA, I don't belive having triple rather than double would effect the Spiral Energy by a large margin. Spiral is powered by hot-bloodedness and determination, not simple genetics.

Omegahugger  
2010-05-27 . chapter 10

Dude, this story is AWESOME!

But that is only to be expected of a crossover between Warhammer 40K and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Normally, I'd say that Spiral Energy seems overpowered compared to the technology of the Space Marines, but that is the problem with Spiral Energy. It is as strong as the weilder's will, and our heroes aren't short on that.

Which reminds me, there was something I thought of while reading your story. Isn't it possible that the WAAAGH power that the orks use is related to spiral energy? I mean, it is based off the mindset of the orks, it can make things work because the orks want them to and it is green. That is an awful lot of coincidents, don't you think?

Just keep on writin this story! Don't you dare stop until it is finished! I won't let you! C:

The Orks WAAGH is tied into Spiral Energy, how and to what extent will be revealed in later chapters.

ChogingaGurren lagann  
2010-05-17 . chapter 10

Amazing! Please tell me you haven't given up on this. It's too good to let die, an unfinished tale in the depths of internet space. Kick reason to the curb and finish this story!

Given up on this story? Who the Hell do you think I Am? *Dawns Sunglasses*

Majin Hentai X  
2010-05-14 . chapter 10

Lazengan piloted by Rossiu, its something I expected to happen after the timeskip.

The sheer polarity between TTGL and Warhammer is daunting but you made it work.

Wait are they going to try and control Genome with the warp. They must fail if because he can bust out Lazengan overload with the warp then we can see the return of TTGL.

No better let us see Jou Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

I will not speak on weather the plan to control Lazengann will also taint Lordgenome, but yes, TTGL will makes it heroic appearance eventually...

Omega Deuse  
2010-05-12 . chapter 10

This is quite interesting. The only comments I want to make are watch the typos (both misspellings and missed words) and I'm not entirely sure I want to see Tenga Topa appear, on one hand It's awesome on the other what is there for it to fight.

Yes, I tend to post chapters directly after finishing then; this leads to a certain amount of errors. Once the story is finished, I will edit and fix them.

As to what is there for TTGL to fight... I'm sure I could think of something... four somethings

Robby Cartwright  
2010-05-03 . chapter 10

Awesome story idea! Can't wait for more!

Thanks.

Lunatic Pandora1  
2010-04-23 . chapter 10

Awesome.. although it needs a little more epic. More weird strangeness like they did in the actual TTGL.

Not easy to deliver on, its hard packing epic into a story. But I'm trying, oh I'm trying. I do have a few things planned that might up the ''Epic Meter''

ORE WO DARE DA TO OMOTTERU?  
2010-04-22 . chapter 10

*cough* *cough* Need... more badassed Gurren Lagann and 40K awesomeness *cough* Please... update...

*Delivers*

Fanfiction_writer_hopeful  
2010-04-02 . chapter 10

Cool beans!

Question. If spiral energy can only be used by rases that can reproduce does that mean that (along with the obvious undead Necrons) that the Sensei (the sterile, self-proclaimed Sons of the Emperor) cannot use it?

Also great work, hope you update soon.

Not exactly, as long as the Sensei have the genetic capability to reproduce ( Even if they cannot) they have some access to Spiral. So as long as they have a little bit of DNA saying ''Reproduce'' even if they can't follow through, so to speak, they're still Spirals.

Compass West  
2010-03-26 . chapter 10

Love how this is going so far.

As for the Ork Meks getting their hands on Spiral Energy, wel...

This link might provide you some inspiration for how that would turn out :)

http:/jaekyu./art/Gorkken-Morkann-59616567

yeah, I saw that before. It had a big hand in inspiring me to do this fic.

flood125  
2010-03-24 . chapter 10

holy shit this is a really great fic im so glad i found it. are the eldar going to join the spirals cuase the eldars can see a bit in the future and if they have the help of the spirals they should be able to help bring back there race from death.

The Eldar are, as always, impossible to predict but they will certainly have plans _involving _the Spirals. Weather they join or not does depend on the individual Craftworlds.

islandboy  
2010-03-10 . chapter 10

wish i could write like you. i dont now much about warhammer but ttgl is cool. hope you show some cool new gunmen soon. do you want ideas for gunmen?

I have a fair few, but it never hurts to hear the ideas of others. Anyway, my writing skill is something I've attained from years of practice - and to be honest, I'm not that good. I could name a dozen authors better than me on this very site.

Later, Buddy  
2010-02-07 . chapter 10

Sorry if I sounded rude and impatient in my earlier post, I just love a good fanfiction is all. By the way, which is your favorite race/group in Warhammer 40K? I like the Eldar myself, true they're arrogant snobs but look at everything that's happened to them; Necrons, the fall of their "parents": the Old Ones, the loss of their home world, Slannesh's ever immenent hunger of their souls, the dark Eldar, the ability to foresee the future but the inability to change it themselves... Assholes or not, I can't help but feel sympathetic towards them.

I'm partial to the Necrons, as well as the Imperium at large. But you know, soulless robot killing machines = AWESOME

Bladedchampion  
2010-02-04 . chapter 10

Totally epic. Two races that are going to be very interesting to see will be the dark eldar and tyranids. The tyranids are like a insane extreme of the spiral and dark eldar being a mixture of chaos and eldar.

True enough, I haven't given much thought to the 'nids to be honest but I forsee a part of them to play.

Lord of Murder  
2010-02-01 . chapter 10

sweet chapter. things are really starting to heat up now. its beginning to look like other races might get there hands on gurren lagann and its ilk.

Indeed, can you imagine the epic fights were that to happen?


	12. Visions of Blood

_I'm losing myself in here; in this blackness. Its all around me and I can't feel anything... almost anything... I can't see or hear or touch or taste. Its horrible, but there's one bright light that has kept me sane... one thing that's let me endure for so long._

_My memories of you._

_But my memories are fading now, I can feel myself dissolving into the black sea, becoming just like them. Just like they wanted me to be; I don't wanna be like that. Not again._

_Gods I feel so lonely in here, but I won't give up! I remember you, my love, I remember... I remember..._

_I'm falling apart, the darkness chews away at me a little more each day. Its like a great black ocean beating against a tiny rock, consuming my piece by piece, eroding me. _

_I can't go on like this. _

_Help me!_

_Simon, help me!_

_

" Nia!"

Simon snapped back to full alertness in a surge of dream-induced adrenaline. His pulse raced and he gasped as the sweat covered his body. He looked down at the Spiral Matrix, glinting as ever around his neck. He picked it up, like he always did when he was worried or upset or thinking about the past. _Nia. _ He had felt her, this time there was no doubt; no room for the possibility that he'd imagined her. It _was _Nia. He flashed back to the last time he'd seen her, during his vision whilst his body slumbered in a hospital bed. Until now he'd not even been sure if that was real, or just fevered imaginings. Now, there was no room for doubt.

It was her. _ Nia. _His wife. He felt a surge of hope, rushing through him, such a great boost that the Spiral Grid of the Arc-Gurren pulsed in tune with his emotions, engineers scratched their head in confusion as Simon looked down at the Spiral Matrix, it glinted in the light. Maybe it was just his imagination but it seemed to maintain a slight emerald aura even now. Nia had given him this, it was a solid connection to the past, to the women he loved. Memories of her filled his mind afresh, his bravery at accepting that the defeat of the Anti-Spirals meant her death, her sheer strength of will that had held her form together for a whole week after the fall of those same Anti-Spirals. The keen sense of loss he'd felt in the years after that, but always soothed by the memories she had left behind. He had refused to resurrect her with Spiral Power. He could have; he could have used all his power to rip aside the boundaries between life and death, and lay bare the plain where she had vanished to. He could have invaded Hell itself, if that was what it took, and stolen Nia back from wherever she had gone. But he didn't; it pained him terribly, and he missed her with all his heart but he didn't. In later years, he came to realize that this was the difference between him and his bro. Bro would have done it and to Hell with the consequence. But Simon was a digger and diggers always had to be aware of what they were doing, the slightest misstep could cause a cave-in. Likewise, if he brought Nia back then the rest of the Dai-Gurren Brigade would want him to bring back their lost members, Kittan and the others who died allowing them to reach the Anti-Spiral home-world, and after he did that, then there would be pressure to revive all those who had died in the Anti-Spiral attacks on Earth. Then, if he revived the victims of the Anti-Spirals, why not those who fell fighting the Beastmen? And that was a path he did not want to tread; it was the surest way he could think of to cause Spiral Nemesis. So he'd refused to start the chain, even for the women he loved he would not risk the safety of all beings everywhere. he remembered what he had said to the Anti-Spiral, the words ringing as clear in his mind today as when he'd said them.

_''I'll save them both! The girl and the universe!''_

He hadn't been able to save Nia. No, he had been able to, but he had chosen not to, though it tore at his heart. Now was he to get another chance? Had something brought her back? Or was she a simple ghost, a memory of the past like Bro had been when he visited them one last time? _Help me, Simon. _ His hand closed around his Core-Drill, its metal form heating up as it channelled his Spiral Power. No, this was real. Nia was real. She needed him now. Like she had before, and he would not fail her.

He surged out of the comfortable armchair he'd been resting in just as Viral entered the door to his quarters.

" Simon, I'm sorry to disturb you but we'll be making contact with the locals in less than fifteen minutes. I thought you'd want to come personally."

" Good thinking, old friend but this time I won't be accompanying you."

He drew his cloak about himself, lifted his sunglasses from a nearby table and paused, " Why do I think some thing's missing...?"

Suddenly, there was a rummaging noise and Boota ran out of a dark corner in the room, the Pigmole was getting slow in his old age, but he still was able to agilely scale Simon's leg and settle on his shoulder. _Hmm, _thought Simon grinning, _ just like old times._

" Simon," said Viral, seeing he look on his face, " What're you planning?"

"I'm taking Gurren Lagann out to deep space, I heard Nia, Viral, I think she needs my help."

Simon looked across the room at his friend, expecting some kind of attempt to talk him out of his chosen course of action, but Viral merely stepped aside for him.

" You're a Spiral, of course you heard her. If there was anyone in this whole universe that could help Nia now, its you. We heard you talking to her when you were in hospital. You spoke in your sleep. And when you woke up you had that, Spiral Matrix you called it. Nia give it to you, right? I think that if there's any chance in this universe she could be saved you'd be the one to do it."

" Viral, I-"

" Save it, Simon. I'm a beastman, remember? Lordgenome was my Lord, and King. Nia is the Helix Princess. If she's out there, you'll find her. "

Simon smiled, beaming at his friend, " Thanks, Viral. You're in charge when I'm away."

Viral nodded and then, Simon swept past him, practically running down the corridor to the Ganmen hangers where Gurren Lagann was being kept when not in use. The journy was fast, people stopped to stare but he ignored them, he felt an excitment that he hadn't felt sine he was a kid with bro.

_Nia, I'm coming!_

Suddenly, a figure stepped out of the shadows, red hair cascading down her back and her rifle slung over her shoulder.

" Going somewhere, Simon?"

"Yoko! Its Nia, I felt her. She needs my help."

Yoko examined Simon's face for a second, almost as if she was looking for any sign of lies or falsehoods, finding none she sighed. "I expected this sooner, ever since you saw her in your dream."

She turned without another word and headed down the corridor. She looked back, seeing a dumbstruck Simon, with a smirk she said, " Didn't think I'd let you go out on your own, did you? After all, we're all that's left of the original Gurren Brigade. Kamina'd never forgive me if I let you go out alone now."

Simon could only smile and gesture for her to lead on.

Demos ducked down behind the cover afforded by the overturned scorpion tank and winced as the impact of bolter rounds tracked his movement. The pain that had constantly flooded his system since the battle was growing as he forced his tired body to act and react with far more force and speed than was good for it.

Weapon, He had to find a weapon. He'd lost his own one earlier and he was too weak and tired to call upon any of his more fatal powers. His head pounded, and not just with pain ether. With the implications of what had happened.

_My own brothers have turned upon me once more, _he thought, anger growing stronger, straining against the iron bonds of self-control he had spent years perfecting. He looked down at his left hand, the power-armour totally concealed his flesh from view, but he could see through it, down beneath to the ugly scar he bore on his wrist. The last remnants of a wound so deep and ugly that not even an Astartes system could handle it. The last reminder of what once had been, and what never could be again. Hatred coursed through him, a burning hate he had not felt it almost one hundred years. A hate that last time it surfaced, had caused the death of a rival Chapter Master, and the destruction of his entire Chapter.

Of course, he'd known that they had turned against him since his approach, when he had sensed their intent and felt their pathetic attempts at blocking his mental abilities, but to have it spelled out so loudly in the scream of a Bolter brought it all home.

He had been betrayed.

Someone was going to _suffer _for this.

Like all his kin, Demos knew that the true power of emotions was their innate connection to the Warp; they formed roads, channels through which pure, undiluted psychic power could be summoned and bound. That was why dormant psykers were such a threat to the Imperium of the Corpse-Emperor. If a dormant Psyker became emotionally charged enough to build a stronger connection to the Warp, the resultant surge of power could unleash their slumbering talents. Or it could simply allow a passing Daemon access to their soul. Whatever the case, it was bad for the Imperium. But emotions could also be harnessed, if one had the knowing, they could be used to bolster a failing body.

Like his.

The sound of impacts got softer as Demos felt himself becoming more detached from the world around him, his thoughts came as if from a long distance away, and suddenly, he wasn't worried anymore, he wasn't in pain. His body didn't matter. the pure, undiluted power of the Warp flowed directly into him. It was so easy! He never could understand why none of his battle-brothers bothered to do it - even those who did have the potential. Because it was risky, because every time you did it, you might not be you when it ended. Daemons weren't always allied with the various Chaos Marine factions, and even some of the ones that were wouldn't always resist a nice host body. That wasn't the worst of it ether, but when it all came down to this, when you were a part of the Warp and it was a part of you, then it made things so much more simple. It was worth the risk, worth the fate that he knew would probably one day await him. His powers were growing every day with the grace of Tzeentch, he would one day become a Daemon Prince, or he would become a Spawn. There was no other fate in store for him that he would accept.

The Warp was his home far more than the mundane realm, and one day he would come home for real. A living torrent of Warp Energy, the will of the Change God given form. A Daemon Prince. Everything else was just a delay, a barrier to be broken through and surpassed. Nothing but death would keep him from his goal. The kind of death that was currently offered by his former brothers. That made them a threat, more than their aggression, they were standing in _his _way. What servant of Tzeentch could allow such a thing to go unpunished?

By now, Demos was so pumped up on Warp energy that he could feel the lives and thoughts of those around him. Without having to leave his cover, he knew that there were six battle-brothers. Three of them touched by the Warp and capable of using their own abilities against his. Three others armed with bolt-pistols and chainswords.

Not for nothing, was Demos a servant of the Chaos God of cunning plans, schemes and generally being a magnificent bastard. He had multiple fall-back plans in case of an event like this, the problem was that he needed to know why they were attacking him before he figured out which of his plans would be the best choice. It would be futile to ask, he knew he would get no answers.

So be it! He would rip the information that he wanted from their cooling bodies!

With a savage roar, Demos stepped free from the cover, at once the bolter rounds tracked him, but he had formed a shield around himself with psychic force, and they could do little more than whittle away at his reserves.

The three Psykers cast their powers against him, a burning spike was driven into his mind, a bolt of soul-snatching lightening hurled at his body, and a freezing numbness invaded his limbs. Against anyone else it would have been an effective assault, but he was a favoured of Tzeentch, sorcerery was his domain.

His very earliest training had been to prioritise targets, that was what he did. Working quickly, he divided his power. Mental barriers slammed down and slowed the assault on his mind, he bullied his muscles into some façade of control and crossed his arms. The lightening struck and inflicted a terrible pain,. Agony, pure and simple, against a human it might even have killed him, but not Demos. He fought back. Suddenly, needles of ice lanced into the attacker and he turned blue, dead before he struck the ground.

All this had taken less than a second, and he felt his shield begin to break down, the combined fire of three bolters too much even for him, he ducked and rolled aside, the shots tracking him, he was too nearly slow. The numbing effect had only been toned down, not banished and it was spreading. He needed to be rid of it before it got him killed.

Rolling into the cover afforded by the burnt-out corpse of an enemy fighting machine, he growled in irritation, the mental strike by his former brother paining him more than he would ever admit; but his attacker was unaware of just how good Demos was. A simple thought, and, for a fraction of a second, he devoted all his power and iron self-control to utterly destroying that marine. He screamed, once, his soul stripped from his body and cast into the terrible currents of the Warp, to be found and toyed with by Daemons or simply to cease existing, Demos didn't care. It was what the traitor deserved. Now alone, the last Psyker's presence retreated from his form, but Demos was ready, letting the powers of the Warp blast through his feeble, mortal form, he reached out, visualizing the retreating tendril of thought before him. It was only a second, it existed for the briefest of times, and any other Psyker might have missed it.

Demos didn't.

The last Psyker toppled, Demos's mind easily slipping between the closing folds of his defences and utterly destroying the portion of his mind capable of sentient thought. His body was still breathing as it fell, but he was as good as dead.

Gathering up his strength, Demos screamed a wordless cry of anger and leapt from cover, falling upon the three Chaos Space Marines like lightening from the sky.

Arkur blurted a series of Scrapecodes into the air, the beautiful chaos of the living code seemed to smoulder before his enhanced eyes, his regarded the Chaos Space Marine standing in front of him.

Typical specimen, measuring at roughly the standard level; armour infused with the powers of the Warp. Spikes jutted from his shoulders and his back, skulls was impaled there, a few bore the blue-coloured helms of Ultramarines. Arkur smiled - or rather, forced the mask of living skin he wore over his true face into a mimic of a smile.

" We are ready." He said at last.

The Chaos Marine smirked, sharpened teeth seemed to drip with blood, he spoke into a personal Vox for a second and then returned his gaze to Arkur.

" We are in position, are your elements ready?"

" We are." Spat Arkur in a cold, emotionless drone, " We answered your call for aid only to find such primitives. I hope for the both of us that this city truly is as powerful as you say."

The Space Marine nodded, " Oh it is. I'll have the bombardment begin and we'll assault in just under fifteen minutes. I shall have my men drop-pod down and capture the agreed staging points. I want you to bring your own forces in through west side and divert attention; while they deal with you we will make a decapitation strike and cruse their ability to co-ordinate forces. Then we shall rally and destroy Lazengann. Is this plan of action acceptable to you?"

Akur ran the plan through his internal Mem-file, but found nothing lacking. Extrapolating the shown powerlevel of these beings, plus their technological level; add in the fact that this was their capital city and would be heavily defended by their crude imitation titans.

" I predict an eighty-two percent chance of victory within the first several hours. That probability than increases by eighteen percent when we assault with group beta. Group gamma will not be needed but at your request, they will assault via the north. Chance of victory: One-hundred percent."

The new Chapter Master, Arnor found himself smirking, "Excellent. This mission will reaffirm the bonds of brotherhood between us and you. If this venture succeeds this world will be yours along with all the relics that it contains. The only thing I need is the head of their leader... I have your full support?"

" The Dark Mechanicum will aid you in this task."

The ground seemed to shake as the bombardment began; long-range guns had been set up last night and were now roaring the displeasure of the Chapter upon the city; entire buildings vanished in a flash of light, rubble covered streets and whole sections of the city became death-zones as thousands perished in the first fifteen minutes of the battle.

Then, with a scream of metal, Drop-pods fell from the sky; AA fire traced them and brought a few down but Kamina city was still recovering from its last siege, the vast majority of them made it through. Soldiers rushed to engage and for a while it seemed that they might hold the line.

Then, the earth began to shake and rumble again, but it was no mere gun barrage this time. The God-Machnes had reached the city boarders, bent and bowed and gnarled with Chaos mutation they nevertheless cut their way through the swarms of Grapearls sent against them, Group Alpha consisted of two Reavers and a Warlord, Group beta was made up of the two surviving Warhounds.

The Grapearls had no defence against the weapons that the titans could bring to bare, each hit was a kill, but likewise, Spiral ammunition chipped away at void shields, and it became clear that nether the titans nor the Space Marines would be able to score a quick victory.

Then, Group Gamma crushed the north section and the whole battle shifted.

Group Gamma was an Imperator titan.

Folger  
2010-06-10 . chapter 11

What about the additional lagann-type units that all the cast members appeared in when they lost the gengan toppa form after the final fight? Seems like they'd be a more valuable resource than the death spiral abyss ones.

So, when's Kittan's ghost going to get his lazy ass into gear and help out? I assume you're working on the premise that dying while filled with spiral energy allows for the creation of a spiral-based ghost.

The additional Laganns will be coming into play soon, the problem is that they lack Core-Drills to go along with them - right now they're dormant and unable to be woken. As for Kittan's ghost... he'll be appearing soon, don't worry about that.

Lord of Murder  
2010-05-31 . chapter 11

wow im really beginning to hate that coll guy.

That was the idea!

2010-05-30 . chapter 11

great chapter. funny think is if rossiu unleashed all of his spiral he would proabbly kill a lot of the chaos marines. really hope coll gets his dues aka a punch in the face. keep up the good work.

Thanks. Rossiu's still learning to pilot Lazengann, when he's ready you'll see some real action.

Lunatic Pandora1  
2010-05-30 . chapter 11

Hmm.. if only Lordgenome could talk with Rossiu a bit more, I could see him becoming a Spiral Warrior in his own right. He always seemed to have a bit of trouble accepting that whole no-defeat-no-surrender attitude that worked so well with everyone else.

And I'm looking forward to seeing what this Spiral 'corruption' is going to do with Demos once he gives up on fighting it

Yes, Demos future will be fun. Well, fun for me. For him it'll be 'orribly painful and confusing. Lordgenome isn't through with Rossiu yet, trust me on this.


End file.
